We Were One
by Beckon
Summary: She didn't mean to bring everyone down like this, but when you're pregnant with Soul Society's greatest threat's child, things are going to be far from easy.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I'm going to go ahead and say that I, shamelessly, still enjoy this couple from time to time. When I first started reading Bleach, this was the couple for me- till I read further along and my opinions changed. Now and days, I can be on and off about them but I decided to buckle down and do something about it. The story itself is a typical cliche kind of thing, I'll admit that, and oddly enough it kind of mirrors another one of my stories. This is also probably one of my few Shinigami stories so I apologize ahead of time in case of any character slaughtering that's probably bound to happen.**

_You're not looking well today._

"_I just ate something bad at lunch."_

_Are you sure you're okay?_

"_I'm fine, don't worry about it."_

How long was she going to have to keep lying about it? It wasn't like she would be able to keep it a secret forever but… she didn't want anyone to know. Not now at least but maybe further down the road when it would be near impossible to hide. It was just… all the stress right now and everyone running around trying to recover… it wasn't a good time to bring it up. She had a fear that it would never be a good time to bring it up. And that fear seemed to well up in her chest and break her down into suffocating tears that ruined every night.

Aizen had left just weeks before.

Soul Society felt like it was in ruins over it.

Everyone was running around trying to fix this and that. People were beginning to question each other and the amount of trust between one another was deteriorating at a startling rate. As upbeat as she tried to be, as much as she tried to manage a smile everyday, she couldn't avoid those looks of pure hate. She got the feeling that people were blaming her for it; people were blaming her for Aizen's betrayal, like she was supposed to know it was going to happen. She thought he was dead. How could she have known his grand master plan behind faking his own death? How could she have looked past the fake body and realized what he was up to? It was near impossible… but that didn't stop people from blaming her.

She wasn't alone in it though

Hisagi and Kira received the same looks but they seemed to brush it off so easily. Something she couldn't do. Those looks stayed with her night and day. It was like they knew…

The days were lined with stress and hard work, which left little for anyone to take comfort in but she appreciated the small things. Hitsugaya was too busy working with the other Captains to listen to her but she completely understood and she tried not to get in his way. The great amount of work the Captains were putting into dealing with the situation left most of the Vices with little to nothing to do on a regular basis. A few of them would get together and waste an afternoon together, which was really easier to do than one imagined. She took comfort in the Lieutenants who still spoke to her as one of their own and not some kind of… outsider, like some of the others did.

And if plans went accordingly for this evening, then she would be able to get in some relaxing time with some of the other female Vices.

**

* * *

**

The slight knock on the Division house door drew her away from the whistling kettle on the stove before she heard the sound of the door opening regardless.

"Knock, knock! Anyone home?"

"I'm in the kitchen!" she called back as she pulled the kettle off the heated stove top and set it aside. "Just make yourselves at home!"

"I already have!"

She chuckled lightly and went on to sorting through the different assortment of tea cups she had collected throughout the years. The kettle would need to cool down for a few minutes before she could touch it again. Which left her just enough time to go out and greet her guest. Brushing her hands on her pants, she moved out of the small kitchen and out into the small sitting area just outside.

"Well I see you weren't kidding."

"Hinamori, how long have you known me now?" Matsumoto questioned as she laid out on one side with her head supported on one propped arm. "After having to deal with running after Hitsugaya all day, I'm ready to sit back and unwound for a few hours."

"And that's nice to know but it doesn't really give you reason to sit so… inappropriately." Nanao commented as she seated herself neatly just a few feet away.

"Oh loosen up Nanao." Matsumoto teased. "What are you now? The manner woman? As if you being so book-smart isn't bad enough to deal with."

"And what is _that _supposed to mean?"

"Come on you two, can we not argue at least for the evening?" Momo chuckled. "I would really like to not have to rearrange the furniture again because someone decides to kick it all over the place."

"I was provoked. You were a witness." Matsumoto defended; watching as the smaller Vice only shook her head with a chuckle.

"Alright, well I'm going to check on the tea. Please don't knock over the furniture again." Momo replied as she turned back into the kitchen.

"No promises!" Matsumoto called after her. She waited for the door to swing to a slight close before she glanced over to the glasses-wearing Lieutenant. "Do you uh… do you see anything different with her?"

Nanao reached up and readjusted her glasses as she looked towards the blonde-haired woman. "Nothing that instantly stuck out to my knowledge, no."

"So she didn't look… a little pudgy to you then?"

"Matsumoto, that is a cruel assessment of her."

"All I'm saying is that… in that sweater… she looks like she's gained a bit of weight." Matsumoto continued; thinking back to the cream-colored sweater the woman wore with her Shinigami pants. She couldn't really blame her though, it was a bit chilly inside of the Division House. "You didn't notice even a little bit of it?"

"No."

"You're lying."

Nanao released a low sigh and looked back towards the woman. "You are being incredibly insensitive towards her right now."

"How am I being insensitive? I only asked if you had noticed." Matsumoto replied; watching as the woman shook her head once more and turned away from her. "I'm going to ask her about it."

"Don't you dare ask her." She warned sternly.

"And why not?"

"Because that's like against all female rules of conduct."

"Oh, shut up Nanao."

Carefully pushing aside the swinging kitchen door, she balanced the tea tray somewhat on her hip as she barely managed to squeeze herself through the small doorway. "Sorry about the wait, I think I need to get a new kettle or something. It doesn't seem to want to work quite as well as it used to."

"Hinamori, I have a very important question to ask." Matsumoto started somewhat seriously as she moved to sit up from the floor.

"Um... uh go ahead." Momo stammered slightly as she paused at the remark.

"Is there something going on that we should know about?"

"W-why would you ask that?"

The blonde-haired woman shrugged slightly. "You just seem a bit 'different' these days and I couldn't pinpoint it till now..."

"Matsumoto, seriously, stop it." Nanao warned as she readjusted her glasses.

"Okay look, I'm going to come out with it." Matsumoto sighed. "Look, you have gained like, a lot of weight and I'm just wondering if there's like a chocolate stash you're getting in."

She let out a heavy sigh of relief and shook her head. "And here I thought you were going to ask me something serious."

"Well I'm just saying, I didn't want you to lose that figure so easily." Matsumoto replied.

"I tried to stop her." Nanao sighed.

"No, it's just... I don't know... I guess I've been stress eating; I haven't really noticed." Momo spoke as she set aside the individual tea cups. "Now where did Isane and Nemu go? I thought they were going to be here?"

"Oh I'm sure they got caught up on something." Matsumoto assured. "You know how those two are sometimes."

She chuckled and took the tray back. "Well they better get here before their tea gets cold because I'm not making another batch just because they can't get here on time."

"I'm sure they'll get here soon enough and if not, they're missing out."

"Knock, knock." Isane called as she ducked through the doorway. "Hope you don't mind us just letting ourselves in."

"Nonsense, you know you're more than welcomed to." Momo chuckled. "I hope Nemu's with you."

"She is, although I swear she's like a vampire sometimes. She won't enter a room unless you invite her in." Isane replied.

"It would be improper etiquette to allow ones self into another's home without permission." Nemu spoke as she trailed behind the taller woman.

"It's like the whole 'you can take a horse to water but can't make it drink.'" Matsumoto chuckled as she sipped lightly at her tea.

"That kind of works with you too, only it's 'you can give a woman a bra but can't make her wear it.'" Nanao muttered as she wrapped her hands around the warm cup.

"I heard that."

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting though, I had to tie up a few ends at the Division House." Isane sighed as she welcomed herself to a seat. "It's been busy as ever trying to get things back under control after that last attack."

"I hear ya, I heard it was one of the worst too." Matsumoto nodded. "You know, this probably wouldn't have happened had we been able to stop them from retreating."

"Maybe so but it's just another 'What if' situation that can't happen now." Nanao replied. "It's pointless to even bother mentioning at this point."

"Yeah, it really is actually... can we not even start talking about it?" Momo asked.

"Oh... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have even brought it up." Matsumoto started. "I can't believe I forgot-"

"It's okay. I'm getting over it." she spoke; trying to fake a soft smile.

"May I pose a small question?" Nemu asked.

"Depends. Was that just it?" Matsumoto replied.

Momo chuckled lightly and shook her head at the interaction. "Yeah, go ahead Nemu. Just ignore Matsumoto, she doesn't know what she's talking about." she teased; watching as the blonde-haired woman stuck her tongue out at her playfully.

"I was just merely curious as to when you became fertilized." the woman spoke.

She tightened her hands along the edge of the tray; almost hard enough to split her fingers open. "I... what do you mean?"

"You are pregnant, aren't you?"

"Nemu! You can't just ask someone if they're pregnant!" Nanao scolded.

"Yeah, I mean, she could just be fat." Matsumoto defended.

"Okay Matsumoto, that didn't help the least bit." Isane sighed. "Look, Momo, I'm sure she didn't mean anything by that. She's just-" she stopped in mid-sentence as she watched the tray slip from her hands and clatter loudly with the floor. "She's... just kidding... right?"

"I... I have to go!" Momo rushed as she stepped back before running out of the room.

"Was it something I said?"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I am really glad to hear that I managed to nail the characters this time around! I was worried about it because I never really typed anything fully focused on Soul Society before and didn't know if I would be able to pull off the characters. But, sounds like I did so that's definitely a good thing. Less to worry about so I can figure out the timing in some of these chapters, might have to bump the story up to 15 chapters but I don't like to tie myself down to a chapter number and try to work around it. I'll just type and see where it gets me. Anyways, I'm really glad to get feedback on this story and want to thank everyone for their comments. **

"Momo! Look, Nemu didn't mean it like that!" Isane called after the woman as she pushed herself up from the floor.

"Yes I did."

"Damnit Nemu!" Matsumoto cursed as she started after her fellow Lieutenant. "Look at what you did!"

"I don't believe I am fully comprehending what the problem is in this situation. Would you explain it to me?"

Nanao sighed roughly at the ongoing argument as she already headed on after the girl. "When you three are through bumbling around, why don't you try getting off your asses and finding out why she got so upset over that."

"I told you. Nemu obviously insulted her stress-eating-weight-gain." Matsumoto replied.

"But it is normal for pregnant women to gain weight. The extra weight ensures nutrients to the-"

"Can we stop talking about her being pregnant?" Isane sighed. "I mean, how can you even tell it's not just normal weight gain?"

"I've done several studies with the different bodily changes that occur when someone is carrying and she exhibits some of those changes." Nemu explained.

"Okay, here's a good idea. Why don't we stop discussing it and go ask her about it." Nanao muttered. "If we have to step on a few toes then so be it, but I believe it will be a hellva lot less stressful if we just get to the bottom of this now."

"Nemu… how exactly did Division Twelve do these studies?" Matsumoto started.

"Don't you dare answer that."

**

* * *

**There was no way she could've known! It was borderline impossible! She hadn't even told anyone about it, mostly for the fact that she refused to believe it herself. She could've passed off the statement as a joke but she panicked and ran. There was no recovering from it now; there were no excuses that she could've used to get out of it. She could possibly BS that it had been a scare once but it had only been a fluke, but that would only dig this hole deeper for her. There was no way of getting out or around it this time.

The Division House was eerily quiet as she slowly brought herself to a slow stand still. Most of the Division members had either taken off or gone on a short break to get over the sudden stress of their Captain's betrayal. Sometimes it felt like she was the only one who stayed behind to pick up her Division's slack. On nights like these, she could go straight down one hallway and push open the doors that lead into empty rooms. It only reminded her of the emptiness that was left from Aizen's absence. It reminded her of her own isolation now.

She slowly moved herself further along the corridor before she looked up at the small hatch in the ceiling. Hands carefully pulled her up along the small ladder nearby and through the ceiling hatch; exposing her to the cool night air as she pushed herself up onto the Division house roof.

This was the last place she remembered spending time with him…

This is where they used to share their most intimate thoughts and laugh about their days.

How could she not have known?

How could she not have seen the difference in him?

There should've been signs; there should've been something she could've picked up on but now that she looked back on it… there was nothing. Only memories of their former days together and the cries of what had once been happiness between them. Slowly picking her usual spot, she settled herself down on the cold roof tiles and looked out at the night sky covering what little could be seen of the city.

What was here that was just so horrible that made him leave?

Could she have done something?

"Hinamori! Hinamori, are you up here?" Matsumoto called as she somewhat struggled her way through the small hatch. "Ugh, you know it's hard to find someone so small in a place so big."

"Matsumoto." Nanao hissed as she punched the woman above her. "Shut up and keep with the objective here."

"Nanao, I will kick those glasses clean off your face if you don't be quiet." Matsumoto hissed as she pulled the rest of herself up through the hatch.

"Will you two grow up already?" Isane called up to them.

"You can't tell me what to do!"

Nanao cursed herself at the ongoing bickering that threatened every single one of them, minus Nemu who seemed more intrigued by the argument. Pulling herself onto the roof, she shook her head at the blonde-haired Lieutenant before she headed over to the sitting figure. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah… I guess I've just been stressed out a lot these past few weeks." Momo answered as she tucked her legs against her chest and rested her chin on the bend of her knees. "It just leaves me a bit emotionally unstable and… I didn't mean to run away like that."

"Well, we all need to run every now and then." Nanao comforted as she took the empty seat next to her. "It's the only temporary solution to a short-term problem and it does help sometimes."

"I'm sure you do plenty of running away from Shunsui." Momo chuckled.

"That man is persistent." Nanao groaned as she carefully pushed her glasses back onto her nose.

"Look Hinamori, on our own behalves, we want to apologize for Nemu's behavior." Matsumoto started as she started over towards the two.

"Would you stop blaming everything on her?" Isane sighed. "You know exactly how she can be sometimes."

"Yeah, apparently so detached from people that she ends up offending them." Matsumoto retorted.

"For the love of- if anyone here offended anyone, it's you."

"Excuse me?"

Nanao groaned as she listened to the two bicker back and forth rather loudly while Nemu seemed content with watching the two before she moved on past them. "I swear, those two sometimes…"

"I know. I'm trying to mute them out right now." Momo sighed. "It's kind of odd though, seeing as Isane is more than normally the passive one here."

"Yeah but everyone has a breaking point and I think we're beginning to scratch the surface of hers." Nanao shrugged; watching as the two threw up hands and seemed to be making all kinds of arm motions to coincide with their argument. It would've been humorous to watch had it not been on quite a… blown out of proportion topic. To be honest, she couldn't careless about what had unsettled the girl; she just wanted to make sure she was okay and tell her things were going to get better. "I don't know if we should or shouldn't be terribly afraid when that breaking point is reached."

"I don't know, she is taller than the rest of us here." Momo chuckled. "She could probably get in some nice intimidation techniques."

"Or be able to lay some serious smack down." Nanao added.

"But Isane is part of a non-combative unit and specializes in only healing and some kido-based attacks." Nemu started.

"True but that doesn't mean I want to push it quite yet." Nanao remarked before she looked over to see the two apparently end their abrasive argument and head in towards them. "Finally decided to join the party then?"

"Well after going through several necessary steps and eventually agreeing on one decision, we've decided that this isn't a matter about who caused the fault here- Nemu- but rather on helping to solve the matter at hand." Matsumoto started as she took the empty spot on the other side of the Fifth Lieutenant. "Also, it's perfectly okay in my book if you want to feast on some harmless indulgences and gain a few pounds."

"Can you drop that?" Isane sighed restlessly.

"I'm just saying, we all have those days."

"Oh yeah? Have you ever had one?" Nanao questioned.

"Well yeah but you just couldn't tell under my voluptuous figure." Matsumoto replied.

"I am not even getting into this. Let's just say that we all have those kind of days." Nanao remarked.

"I don't believe I have. What days are we talking about again?"

"Nemu… I don't know how to explain this to you… so I won't." Matsumoto started.

Part of her really wanted to tell them but she pushed it aside and out of mind as she merely chuckled at their comments. "I think this is really all I needed. Just some downtime to finally relax and forget about everything going on."

"Well it is a nice thing to have every now and then." Isane agreed. "Lord knows Division Four doesn't get enough of it at times."

"There's too much relaxation around Division Eight; we can barely get anything done… mostly because Shunsei is drunk a majority of the time."

"Captain Mayuri is constantly working and construction is always going on in Division Twelve."

"I tell ya, Hitsugaya is a workaholic sometimes. I wonder if that man even sleeps."

"Sure he does, but only with you." Nanao muttered.

"Wait- what?"

Matsumoto chuckled nervously at the sudden reaction. "Uh well you see Hinamori… we've been meaning to tell you but…. you know things happened and things came up and well… we forgot? We haven't been dating long, only like a few weeks… maybe months?"

"I can't even believe what I'm hearing." Momo groaned as she buried her head into arms. "You're telling me my childhood friend and my best friend have been dating for MONTHS now and neither of you bothered to tell me?"

"Things came up and… yeah…"

"I can't even look at you right now."

"Oh come on Hinamori, we were going to tell you eventually." Matsumoto started. "I mean, if you have a problem with it-"

"No it's just… you were all talking about your Captains and talking about how much work you have to put in now. And then I hear about this and it's just… I don't know… I really don't." Momo interrupted; her voice breaking slightly when she spoke. "I mean, I always just 'assumed' you two were eventually going to hit it off; I mean you guys were practically perfect for each other. I don't… I just don't know why I'm upset over this."

"Regardless, we're both still going to be here for you." Matsumoto smiled. "Don't think that just because we're 'something' now that it completely pushes you out of the picture."

"Are you sure? I just… I don't want to get in the way."

"Her breasts apparently don't get in the way so I don't think you'll have much to worry about." Nanao remarked.

"I know a lot has happened recently and I just… I guess I feel better knowing that someone's going to be there for me." Momo spoke.

"Well don't you worry about that, because we're always going to be here." Matsumoto assured. "In the best and worst times."

Slowly drawing in a deep breath, she lifted her head from her arms and tried to find the strength to keep herself from falling apart. "That's good because… I'm going to need a lot of it." she started; brushing the back of her hand across her wet eyes. "I… I…"

"What is it?" Isane questioned softly.

It was now or never right? She had already dug herself in this far… there was no backing out now. "I'm pregnant."

The silence afterwards was thick enough to be cut with a sword as everyone seemed frozen in time; part of them in disbelief and part of them in shock.

"How does one go about saying 'I told you so?'"

"Nemu… now is not the time for that."

"You are right Isane and I apologize for my inappropriate question following such statement. Might I try another expression?"

"I think it's a bit dangerous to let you talk right now." Nanao whispered.

"Congratulations. That is the proper saying for when learning someone is expecting an infant, correct?" Nemu asked.

"Can someone push her off the roof now?" Matsumoto groaned.

"A fall from this height will do little to no physical damage. If you were looking to perhaps maim or seriously cripple me, might I suggest a higher structure." Nemu started.

Isane sighed quietly as she reached over and pulled the woman into a small to minor headlock. "Look, we're just going to sit here and think carefully about what we say before we say it."

"Your breasts are constricting against my air passages."

"How do you… I mean how do you know?" Matsumoto questioned; trying to turn herself back to the major task at hand.

"I tried to put it off and blame it on other things but… you know those excuses only hold up for so long." Momo started. "At first I thought it was the stress that was making me sick and then it was getting more constant and more severe at times. Then it was just the overall feeling like my entire body was changing and… things were getting bent out of shape. I didn't want to believe it and I've denied it for so long but… now it's the only thing left to explain it."

"Well I… I honestly don't know what to say." Isane spoke. "If you want, you can drop by the Division Four barracks and we can run some test."

"Division Twelve could also assist with some of the testing."

"You're not going to Division Twelve." Nanao quickly followed.

"I don't want to go anywhere." Momo replied. "I just… I don't want anyone to know. I wasn't even planning on telling you but it just… it happened."

"Look, don't worry with any of that for now. We're not going to tell anyone until we get everything cleared up and we know for sure." Matsumoto started. "And when we pass that step, well then we'll figured out what to do from there. I promise you… you won't be alone in this."

"Thank you."

Isane chewed on her lower lip for a moment before she slowly began to pose the question that had been eating her away on the inside. "Who's the father?"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay, so I'm just going to go ahead and get a few things out of the way. It did not occur to me that people were going to get upset over the fact that I mentioned Hitsugaya and Matsumoto together; everyone says it should be Matsumoto and Gin. Rest assured, this issue gets explained in later chapters or at least, to me it's explained enough. I'm going to be flat out honest here, I am not a big Shinigami fan which is why I tried really hard to get these characters in line when typing this story- I didn't think there was a big issue between HitsuMatsu and GinMatsu. Apparently there is. Now, I know the manga/anime points in one direction but every now and then it'll switch back into another. There is evidence for both sides. The fact that people are more concerned with the pairing wars and more focused on the Hitsugaya- Matsumoto- Gin thing well... it's a little disappointing because that's not what the story's about. If you want to read GinMatsu, there are plenty of stories out there to read; endless amounts. Right now, with this story, it's not about them or really any other couple for that matter. There are going to be hints at other couples throughout the story and if those couples don't suit you, then I'm sorry but everyone's got a different opinion and a different side in this pairing war. There are a lot of characters in Bleach and that leads to a lot of pairings- a lot of different pairings. Right now, it's just Aizen/Momo because it's taken me this long to finally get a solid idea for the couple- they are difficult to type considering the circumstances of their "relationship" or just their situation overall even if you don't like the couple. So, just relax and don't worry about it, I'm hopefully getting everything taken care of by the fifth or so chapter. I'm still working out the kinks so just bear with me. **

"_Who's the father?"_

That was the one question she had been trying to avoid; that was the one question she didn't even want to ask herself… only because she actually knew the answer.

"On second thought… let's not worry about that right now." Nanao sighed. "Let's just… let's make sure everything gets cleared first. I don't want everyone to get worked up on something and it turns out to be a false alarm."

"Is it Hanataro's?" Matsumoto guessed. "I mean, you two used to be pretty close."

"I don't know how I would feel about that." Isane started.

"How do we always get side tracked on this?" Nanao whispered as she readjusted her glasses. "Let's just head back inside and enjoy the rest of our evening there. Our tea is probably cold though…"

"So we'll just make a new batch." Matsumoto shrugged with a wave of her hand. "It is beginning to get chilly out here though, so I believe I'll second that motion to head inside."

She sighed lightly and watched as the others started to get up. She didn't really want to leave the rooftop but seeing how she just barely managed to avoid answering the question… she didn't want to bring up any more suspicion. "Yeah, it is beginning to be a bit more colder at nights. I guess winter's starting to come in."

"It's always disappointing to see the summer go by so quickly." Matsumoto sighed.

"What's it matter? Even in the dead of winter, you still show as much cleavage as you can." Nanao muttered as she carefully got to her feet and dusted herself off. "And you still complain when you get snow caught down your uniform."

Momo chuckled lightly at her remark as she allowed for the Eighth Lieutenant to help her to her feet. "Do you think we'll still have our annual snowball fight?"

"Well if none of the Captains do, I'll make sure the Lieutenants at least hold one." Isane promised as she started to get up. "And who knows, maybe Nemu won't knock someone out with a snowball this year."

"I apologized to Hisagi for that mishap." Nemu spoke as she released herself from Isane's grip.

"I still don't know how that exactly happened." Matsumoto whistled.

"Enough blunt force trauma was applied to his facial area and-"

"I said I didn't know, never said I was curious enough to know."

"Come on, everyone inside." Nanao spoke as she ushered everyone back towards the roof hatch. She watched as one by one they dropped back into the relatively empty Division House before she followed in after them; closing the hatch tightly behind them. "Alright, now let's just go back to the living area and I'll see if I can't reheat that tea."

"Such a saint, Nanao." Matsumoto remarked.

**

* * *

**

"Sorry to be the barer of bad news here but… I think I should head back to my Division House now." Isane spoke as she stifled a soft yawn. "We'll be pulling full shifts tomorrow and I don't think Captain Unohana would appreciate me falling asleep on the job."

"Are you sure you're headed back to Division Four or are you going to make a pit stop by Division Eleven?" Matsumoto teased as she finished off the last of her tea.

Nanao shook her head with a light chuckle. "You know, not everyone is dating someone in their own Division."

"You are."

"Shunsui and I are nothing."

"Then why did you deny it so quickly?" Matsumoto questioned.

"I did not." Nanao snapped.

"Why are you so defensive now?"

Momo smiled as the two continued on with their argument. "I think I'm going to have to go with Isane on this one. It's been a long day for all of us and I would hate to keep any of you here over the allotted time frame." she pushed herself to her feet and carefully collected the empty tea cups. "Do we know when we'll be able to get together again?"

"I'll have to check my schedule." Isane replied.

"I doubt Shunsui will notice my absence." Nanao remarked.

"I'm free whenever." Matsumoto shrugged. "And we'll probably never see Nemu again. So I say… let's make plans in a day or so. We wouldn't want to get too far behind on the gossip."

"What gossip?" Nanao questioned. "Aside from the rumor about Captain Ukitake and Captain Unohana, which is really more of truth than rumor now."

"Can we not talk about that? I'm still uncertain about it." Isane chuckled.

"I heard one about Nemu and Akon." Matsumoto remarked.

"I did not hear of this." Nemu started. "What did it consist of?"

"I don't really recall listening to it."

"Come on, come on, at this rate, you guys will be spending the night." Momo spoke with a light chuckle. "And seeing as how busy our days are lately, I don't think it would be in our best interest to stay up half the night giggling to ourselves."

"It sounds like more fun than sleeping." Matsumoto shrugged. "But you do have a point. Hitsugaya is going to kill me if I show up late again."

"What? Didn't make it in time to cuddle before his bedtime?" Nanao questioned.

"We're not starting this again." Momo intervened. "Now come on, if you're going to argue, take it outside or on your way back to your Division Houses. I at least would like to get in bed before midnight." she watched as everyone slowly got up from where they were and started to migrate their way to the door. As much as she hated to see them go, she didn't want to be the reason why they couldn't get up tomorrow morning. Everyone exchanged their goodbyes before they eventually disappeared out into the night. Slowly pulling the door to a close, she let out a long sigh and leaned against the door for a bit of support.

How many bullets did she dodge today?

How did she just barely manage to get them to avoid an answer to the question of the paternity of her child? And then manage to get them distracted by a numerous amounts of other conversation topics? It seemed like by the end of the night, they had completely forgotten about it.

She wasn't sure if that was a good or bad sign.

At this point… she just wanted to let it all go and lie down for the night. Maybe she could finally sleep peacefully knowing that she got just a small chunk of it off her chest… but the main pressure of it was still there.

They didn't know and she didn't know if she could even trust them with the truth.

In some way, shape or form, they already knew but… just like her, they were trying to forget it. They were taking the problem and just pushing it away, hoping that they wouldn't have to deal with it in the present time.

That's exactly what she was doing and so far… it wasn't working.

"_Hinamori…"_

"_Captain…"_

****

**

* * *

**

The early morning sun peaking through her windows was enough to cause her to groan softly as she rolled away from the bright light. She knew she had to get up but… she really had no motivation to. Not to mention her bed just seemed extra comfy this morning. One hand draped over the edge of her bed for a moment as she slowly cracked open her chocolate-brown eyes; watching as the bare color of the nearest wall stared back at her. Sighing quietly, she took a few deep breaths before slowly she pushed herself up. Part of her was still feeling exhausted, while the other half just felt… sore? It was probably the result of their late night antics, not that they really did much but sit around and gossip.

"Good morning, Hinamori."

The greeting caused her to yelp slightly in surprise as she glanced around for the voice; pulling the blanket tightly around her as though her full body sleepwear wasn't enough to cover her modesty. She let out a sharp exhale and put a hand to her forehead as she noticed the woman sitting in the corner of the room. "Nemu… why are you here… in my room?"

"Isane sent me." she answered. "Are you well this morning? You seem a little pale."

She shook her head and tossed back the covers before she felt an overwhelming sickness that seemed to flood into her chest. It lasted for only a few seconds before it managed to settle back down into the pit of her stomach. "Ugh… yeah, you just scared me there for a minute."

"I apologize for the scare. Isane said it would be alright for me to enter your living space."

"Why did Isane send you anyways?" Momo questioned as she eventually managed to swing her legs over the side of the bed and push herself into a sitting position. Her sore muscles were beginning to act up again as she made herself get to her feet and look around for her uniform. "Is she up to something today?"

"She would not rely that information to me." Nemu started; keeping her seat as she watched the other Lieutenant snatch her uniform from where it had been tossed aside the night before. "But if I were to make a reasonable guess, I believe it would have something to do with your unknown, yet possible pregnancy."

A silent groan escaped her as she pulled her uniform top on and reached for her white sash next. "I guess she was too busy to make it herself then. And as much as I would rather avoid the whole thing… it's probably best just to get it over with."

"It could be a multitude of things." Nemu spoke.

"I know but… ugh it feels like I've already gone through with everything before and nothing seemed to fit." she sighed. "But maybe now I can get some concrete answers out of it. You want to walk with me there?"

"I was working on my way to the Division Four barracks anyways." Nemu nodded as she got to her feet.

"Do I want to know why?" Momo questioned.

"There was a minor accident in the labs, which lead to some minor fire hazards-"

"Hmm… not sure if I'm curious enough to even start with that answer."

**A/N: Also, I apologize if the story seems lagging a bit, I tried to take some extra time to get into typing these characters and trying out their dialogue pieces to see if they were appropriate for the given character. Hopefully it'll pick up soon enough within a chapter or so.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I know there's a lot of things everyone wants me to cover right now but for the most part I had everything up to chapter five previously typed down. Don't worry, everything's going to get covered, it might just be pushed back a bit. I have the story planned out but I'm having a bit of a difficult time trying to organize all the ideas and get the timing lined up. If you can just bear with me for a little bit longer, I will honestly try to get everything covered as soon as possible. I want to thank everyone for their reviews and for their comments, I will try to keep things in line and get everything up and going soon enough. It's lagging a bit, I now understand and can see that, but it'll pick up. **

The Division Four barracks were as they always were at any time of the day. Patients and different Division members running back and forth down the corridors or along the outsides of the building. She never knew where they were going but from the look of their fast paced working, she figured that she didn't really want to know that bad. She was perfectly fine with just assuming that there was a patient who needed urge care right at that moment. Shaking her head, she felt herself slowly dreading each step that took her closer to the building. Not to say that she didn't want answers to the ever revolving questions but… she would've preferred the more secured privacy of her own Division house as opposed to the ever hectic Fourth barracks. Maybe some small part of her mind was not the least bit interested in knowing what was wrong with her. Slowly approaching the front doors of the barracks, she once considered just leaving but denied the internal request; she was already here, so might as well figure out what the answer was.

"Good Morning, Hinamori, Nemu." Hanataro greeted as he passed by with a stack of blankets in arms.

"Good Morning." Momo replied; watching as the seventh seat hurried along. "Now to just find Isane."

"That cannot be too difficult to achieve." Nemu spoke as she looked around the open lobby area of the division house. It wasn't long before she spotted the silver-haired Lieutenant tending to some minor house-cleaning. "There she is."

They didn't have to move far as the Fourth Division Lieutenant seemed to spot them about the same time they spotted her.

"You're here. I was a little worried there for a moment." Isane spoke.

"I had to take a 'throwing my stomach up' break." Momo replied.

"Oh well… I guess that would explain it." Isane started slowly. "Anyways, we're pretty free with time this morning so I figured it wouldn't hurt to run a few tests and see what we can get out of the results."

"Alright, but don't be surprised if I start throwing up halfway through them. Just thought I'd throw that warning out there first."

"And I thank you for that."

"Is there anything else that would call for my assistance here?" Nemu questioned.

"Uh… no, seems like I can cover everything from here." Isane nodded. "Although… we should probably get someone to look into those injures of yours. How did you get them again?'

"Minor accident, minor fires, don't ask for details." Momo intercepted.

"Oh… uh well then, I'll just get Hanataro back here and have him take care of those for you."

**

* * *

**

The testing itself was fairly easy and required little to no effort to complete, not to mention Isane had managed to find a room that was nearly isolated from all other division traffic. She guessed somewhere in the back of her mind, she had merely made herself paranoid about it and made everything seem about ten times worst than it really was.

And then came the results.

And they were exactly how she expected them to be.

Positive.

It's not like she could say that she wasn't expecting that but… now that it was actually concrete and not just in her head, it seemed a lot harder to swallow. She didn't cry which she had actually expected herself to; she just kind of… sat there. Despite the results she still felt empty and… numb? Something. She couldn't exactly find the words to describe it and at the moment she didn't really want to. Part of her just wanted to go back to bed and pretend this day had never even started.

"Are you… going to be okay?" Isane questioned.

"Yeah, I just… I just feel really tired right now I guess."

"Look if you need anything-"

"Isane, it's okay. It's not like I'm paralyzed or anything." Momo started as she helped herself off the examination table. "At least for now, I'll be able to take care of myself however, when it reaches a few months down the road, then I might take up on your offer."

"I just want to make sure you're fine, that's all." Isane softly chuckled. "I guess I can get Nemu to escort you back to your Division house if you want; Hanataro should be through healing her by now. What kind of accident did Division Twelve have-"

"Fire, mangled bodies, excessive details that you don't want to know about." Momo replied. "Things that no person would ever want to know about."

"Yeah that sounds like something she would tell you about." Isane sighed as she opened the room door and allowed for the shorter Lieutenant to walk out into the hallway before she followed close behind. "I honestly don't see how she's able to work in a place like that."

"Yeah uh, we ask the same thing about you." Momo spoke. "How do you work in a place that's so… nonstop and chaotic?"

"Sometimes I ask myself that same thing."

Momo chuckled lightly as they entered back into the mainstream chaos that made itself the corridors of Division Four. "Goodness, I'm afraid I'm going to get knocked over and lost in this place."

"One of the very few, microscopic reasons of why I'm glad I'm tall enough to overlook most of it." Isane started as the two quickly found themselves back in the main room of the barracks.

"Isane, Momo." Nemu spoke as she made her way towards them. "Did everything go accordingly?"

"Uh, yeah, something like that." Momo answered. "I was actually just heading back to my Division House now so I guess I'll see you guys later."

"I could escort you if you'd like." Nemu offered.

"No, it's fine, I walked here so I think I'll be okay on the way back."

"Look, she passes by your place so it's to no inconvenience-" Isane started.

"I'll be fine, honestly." she sighed. "Right now, I think it would be best if I just had some down time to myself."

"Well we wouldn't want you to pass out halfway there."

"I haven't passed out yet, not to say that it won't happen, but I'm fine for now." Momo insisted.

"Nemu, go with her."

"You two are impossible."

Isane chuckled lightly as she watched as the smaller woman seemed less than happy about the arrangement. "Okay fine, if you want to go back home by yourself then I have no say in the matter. I just thought that you would like Nemu's company or maybe vise versa."

"I would not mind acquiring your presence for a short walk."

"Oh no, I know exactly what you're doing; you're using Nemu against me because it works every time." Momo started.

"Did it work?" Isane questioned.

"What? No… oh forget it, let's just go Nemu." she ushered as she started to head out of the Division House. "I'd like to forget I even woke up this morning." Okay, so maybe she was being a little dramatic about it. At least she knew for certain now and didn't just assume it; she needed the security and closure of having a definite answer. "So how has your day been, with the exception of the fire and mangled bodies from before?"

"Well the chemical burns were rather difficult for Hanataro to heal but-"

"Before that."

"Eventful."

"I imagine that." Momo chuckled. The morning air felt cool against her skin and for once, it actually felt like it would be just another normal day. It was nice to still have some hope to see another day like that but that hope was lost somewhere in the distant future- or at least she prayed it would still be there. But, she had a lot of duties to attend to when she returned; with almost every other member gone and her still as Lieutenant, she was moved to temporary acting Captain. Of course because of the trauma of the entire situation, the other Captains didn't make her carry on the full duties that the others were pulling but she still had to carry on with the paperwork and such.

She wasn't in the mood to deal with those right now though.

"Division Twelve has a scheduled movement to the human world soon." Nemu started as she walked carefully at her side as they moved down the slight hill that curved the dirt path beneath them. "Would you like for me to get your baby something? That is usual protocol, correct?"

"What? Oh, no you don't have to get me anything." Momo replied with a light chuckle as she looked to the faint outline of her own Division House in the distance; the sight of it nearly filled her with dread. "You really are… into this whole situation though, aren't you?"

"I like to think I'm carrying out a personal experiment by observing reactions and basing my next remarks off those responses." she started. "I have studied much on this kind of topic and researched into the 'human celebrations' for this kind of event. I would like to host some of this 'events' so I could further my observations and see these reactions up close."

"You are not hosting a baby shower." Momo denied.

"Why not? It is custom to-"

"I don't want one." she continued and for a moment, she almost thought she saw a look of disappointment in the woman; it was quickly flushed away though. "I just… I don't think one would be appropriate right now. I appreciate the thought though and… maybe if the situation was different-"

"What if we did anyways?"

"Who is this we?" Momo questioned; watching as the Twelfth Lieutenant only shrugged in answer this time and seemed more focus on where they were walking now instead of their previous conversation. "Oh don't pull that trick on me."

"Here is your Division home." Nemu spoke as she stopped just a few feet from the entrance door. "If you need anything, do not hesitate to ask."

"Oh don't worry, if I need anything, you'll be the first to know." she chuckled as she slowly made her way up the steps that lead to the entrance of the division house; deciding just this time to let their previous conversation drop. "Thanks for walking with me."

"It was not an inconvenience at all." Nemu started.

"Hinamori! I've been looking all over for you!"

She jumped at the voice and turned to see the white-haired, Tenth Division Captain headed in her direction; for a moment, she felt panicked and then realized that there wasn't much for her to be worried for… it wasn't like he was the least bit suspicious… right?

"Where have you been?" Hitsugaya questioned as soon as he drew close.

"Uh… I was at the Division Four barracks." Momo answered. "Is there something that you need?"

"I need those papers I sent to you last week." he replied; those turquoise eyes showed how the pressing situation denied almost every Captain any night of rest. "We need to figure out how many people we're short on at the moment."

Of course, those papers. "Yeah, I have them, just give me a few minutes to find them." she nodded.

"Why were you at the Division Four barracks?"

"Hinamori was accompanying me there this morning." Nemu answered, just a step before her. "There was a fire this morning-"

"Oh yes, believe me, I heard plenty of it from Captain Mayuri."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thanks for all your reviews and comments guys, I really appreciate them. This is the last chapter I have pre-typed so you'll have to excuse me if the next update is a day or two late, I have to get my thoughts back together and piece my ideas to one another. Still trying to figure out the timing but it shouldn't be too much of a hassle, or at least it won't be too noticeable. Also, seeing from the ideas I have for the story and some samples I already typed out to test, this story isn't going to be the wanted ten chapters that I have been aiming for- it's going to be a bit longer. Maybe fifteen but I was kind of hoping to avoid twenty, I don't really have a reason to so I guess it shouldn't be a problem with how long the story's going to be. I should probably just worry on getting the whole thing done and not rushing my way through it, that sounds better.  
EDIT: I was having a lot of problems with the site, so that's the reason for the delay. **

Hands fumbled to pick up the papers that had been requested as she searched through the stacks of folders and reports she had been putting off for days now. She let out a low sigh as she found the needed documents and pulled them loose; skimming through them once more, she checked over her work to make sure it was all completed. There was a bitter feeling as she looked over the long list of names of people who were no longer here- she couldn't blame them, she didn't want to but in this situation… they needed everyone they could get.

"Hinamori…"

"Here they are, I knew I had them somewhere." she replied; trying to sound somewhat cheery as she turned back to the Captain standing in the doorway. She watched as the sudden motion knocked over another stack of papers and left them scattered all over the floor in seconds- her hours of work and organization suddenly lost. "It's okay… I'll just get them later."

Hitsugaya sighed faintly as he dropped his arms from where they had been crossed. "Is… is everything okay?"

"What do you mean?" she questioned; watching as his usual cold demeanor seemed to melt away for a second.

"It's just, you've been acting strange for a few days now." he started. "You haven't been looking well either, I just wanted to make sure you were taking care of yourself, that's all."

Some small part of her wanted to tell him everything but the greater majority suppressed the idea and forced a small, maybe sympathetic smile. "Everything's fine… I mean, as fine as it's going to be or get in this situation. It's just, it's nothing to worry about… I promise."

He didn't seem to believe her but didn't feel the need to question her either. "If there's anything you need, you know I'm here."

"I know." she nodded; feeling herself beginning to break down into pieces on the inside. "It's a hard situation for everyone right now though and I know how busy you are. Just… don't worry about me so much, I'll be fine; I mean, I have Isane, Nanao and Matsumoto to keep me company and sometimes Nemu's there too, when she can be anyways."

The ever pressing and ever present betrayal on Soul Society was etched into every second and hour of every day. She knew his workload kept him working throughout the nights sometimes but… that didn't keep him from mildly regretting that it kept him from attempting to comfort her. They had grown up together, the least he could do was that… "It's a pretty… less eventful day, so I can send Matsumoto down here to stay with you for awhile."

A light chuckle left her as she moved to brush a stray strand of hair from her face. "It's okay, I mean, this is about the only time you two have together, right?" the look on his face said everything. "Matsumoto told me the other night. All I can say is that it's about time."

He seemed to chuckle almost nervously in response as he rubbed at the back of his head. "Things happened so fast… we couldn't find the time to tell you…" he started.

"It's okay." she smiled. "I mean, after all, someone has to be there for her too, right? After Gin left…"

"She's been taking it pretty hard but she doesn't want anyone to know about it." he sighed. "I think that's one of the reasons things between us… moved so fast. She was upset and came to me about it and I guess things just went from there. She still talks about him sometimes."

"I know the feeling." she nodded. "She doesn't want to let him go but she knows she has to… it's like clinging on to that memory for just a little while longer in hopes this is all just a really bad dream."

"Hinamori…"

"I'm trying… but we're all suffering in this situation. It's probably time to just pick up the pieces and move on." she sighed before she walked over to where he stood. "Here are those papers; I'll have the other reports out by tomorrow morning, I promise this time."

"Thank you." he started before he pulled her into a short hug. "We may not always be available but… everyone's here for you."

In that split moment, she felt herself starting to fall apart.

For a second, she almost let herself do so.

Scraping her emotions together, she only smiled and returned the gesture. "Now go on, I know you're busy and I want you to at least have some time to sleep tonight."

She watched him as he left and waited for him to leave her line of sight before she pulled the door closed; turning back to face the mess of her own makeshift office. She couldn't keep doing this… she couldn't keep pretending she knew what she was doing or that she was in control.

Because she wasn't.

She couldn't keep lying to them…

_

* * *

_

"So why didn't you want to go to the festivities again?"

_He glanced over at the question and chuckled lightly as he spotted his dark-haired Lieutenant as she pulled herself onto the slanted rooftop. He looked back to where the center of Seireitei was ignited with bright lights and echoes of laughter. "It's the same every time. We chat, we have fun, we get drunk and no one remembers it the next morning. After awhile, it just feels nice to have a break in the routine." _

"_So decided to spend the night on the rooftops then?" Hinamori asked as she found herself a spot close to his side; pulling her legs up to her chest. _

_A light shrug escaped his shoulders as he leaned back on his forearms and continued to watch the neon lights of the festival from a distance. "I don't know, I could just be spending the night out here with you, which is just as acceptable." _

_She giggled lightly and tried to hide her blush as she turned back to him. "Well then be prepared for a night of boredom and countless regrets of what I'll have to be listening to in the morning from the other Vices." _

"_From the Vices? Wait till you hear about half the shit the Captains do." Aizen chuckled. "Kenpachi likes to challenge people to drinking contest; Shunsui's normally already drunk at that point; and Soifon is quite popular if she decides to show up." _

"_You shouldn't be talking about the other Captains like that!" she laughed. _

"_Pft, they can't defend themselves." he shrugged once more. "They also can't deny it." _

_Shaking her head, she listened to the sharp crack of several fireworks going off at once and watched as they exploded into bright sparks in the midnight sky. "It looks like it would be tons of fun." _

"_You want to go? They're probably too drunk to notice if I sneak you in." he offered. _

"_What? No, of course not!" _

_Her reaction only made him laugh at her slightly flustered face. "Okay, okay, then we're both content with just sitting here for the night." _

_She let out a light aggravated sigh for fun before she leaned far enough to rest on her back now. "So what do we do?" _

"_Stare at the stars?" he remarked. _

_She squinted her eyes at the sky above her, slightly cloudy now with smoke from the fireworks. "I can't see the stars that well." _

"_Wanna borrow my glasses?" _

"_You're blind without them." she reminded with a chuckle. _

"_I'll manage, after all Captains have to make sacrifices for their Lieutenants." he teased. _

"_I hardly call that a sacrifice but I appreciate the gesture." she replied. _

"_Suit yourself, you're missing out." he shrugged as he folded his arms underneath his head and closed his eyes for a moment. _

_She glanced over at him for a moment before she edged herself closer. "Did you fall asleep?" _

"_Hmm no, I'm still awake." he half muttered. "I swear…" _

"_It is kind of late." she started. "But I think I might like to watch the fireworks some more." _

"_Nothing's stopping you, don't let me stop you." he yawned. _

"_Okay then, well I guess I'll just stay here for the night." _

_He stretched lightly and managed to roll himself over enough to find a place in her lap to rest his upper body on. "I'll just stay here." _

"_Captain!" _

The shout in her dream seemed to startle her awake as she shoved herself away from her pillows as asphyxia seemed to settle in her lungs. Gasping heavily, she put a hand to her forehead and let out a long, droned sigh. It felt like recently her dreams were just playback memories of him now and she hated herself for it. With each passing day, all she could do was think of him… or at least that's what it seemed like; it felt like every moment was spent completely stuck on him. She couldn't really blame herself for it but she did regardless of so.

"You were stupid… to actually have believed him." she whispered to herself. "What were you thinking? You should've known he never would have gone anywhere with it; you should've… ugh, you should've seen the warning signs, but you didn't, did you? Why do you make me hate you?"


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Trying to spread the story out just a bit and cover some of the other Divisions, after this I'm hoping to get the story to pick up a bit.**

The inability to sleep after that kept her wake for the rest of the night and well into the next morning. The insomnia was painful but it somehow managed to convince her to finish up the last of the reports she had been requested to do. There were reports for all sorts of things she wasn't even aware that she needed to handle but she tried to grind her way through them regardless; she had promised Hitsugaya that she would get them done and she couldn't go back on her word. By the time the sun was peeking through the window, she had finished signing off on the last paper and carefully placed it on the top of the closest stack.

She was done.

Thank Gods.

Letting out a long sigh, she pushed herself to her feet and grabbed a hold of the different folders; holding them against her chest as she made her way out of the makeshift office and into the hallway. She paused a moment to listen to the stark silence of the Division house; even as early as it was, there used to be all sorts of noises that ranged from creaking floor panels, sliding doors, people whispering, the faint whistle of a kettle and every now and then on rare occasions, the soft sound of music playing from Aizen's office. But all of that had surrendered itself to the silence. It had gotten to the point where it didn't bother her as much and… to where it didn't feel right if everything wasn't completely silent. Things were changing and she was already stumbling to catch up… she couldn't afford to linger but it felt like the path she was traveling on was riddled with potholes and boulders to trip on.

The soft morning breeze only managed to chill her to the bone as she pulled her uniform together in some effort to protect her skin from the blistering cold. Winter was certainly on its way and she wasn't sure if she was going to be welcoming it this year or not. A soft sigh left in a small cloud from her lips as she hurried away from her division house and down the curved dirt path that would lead her to the doorstep of Division Ten; Hitsugaya would more than likely be awake at this hour- more than likely he probably hadn't slept at all through the night.

She tried to make the walk seem less like a marathon and tried to put her focus on the changing surroundings around her. The trees were beginning to lose their leaves as they slowly shut down for the colder months; the distant hills were looking less and less green and almost seemed to resemble massive graves. Even the beautiful gardens of the Division Six house seemed to succumb to the fall of winter. Out of all the Captains, Captain Byakuya seemed to be the most annoyed with the situation; every now and then he seemed caught up in some kind of rant about it. She figured he didn't enjoy the mess that had been created as a result; Matsumoto always remarked that he was just angry because he couldn't get his right amount of 'beauty' sleep every night. She always tried to keep her opinions about other Captains to herself but she even heard Nanao cross the line once and call him an arrogant bastard with how he was dealing with the whole mess.

Then there was Division Seven. It was an understatement for anyone to say that they had noticed the change in Captain Komamura; despite the rush of meetings, it would be days before anyone saw him and even then it would just be for a split second. She always wondered how someone as tall and big as he was, was able to make himself just… disappear so easily at times. Whenever she thought about it, she always felt selfish for feeling the way she did- he was far more worse off than she was. She just lost someone she thought she knew; he lost a friend. There was no denying the greater hardship he was going through; he and Captain Tousen went back as far as before the Academy.

After that was Division Eight, which was well known to anyone in Soul Society. As serious as the mood had been for the pass for weeks, it seemed as though Captain Shunsui hadn't slowed down the least bit in his drinking. She chuckled lightly as she recalled Nanao's long rants about them and how she couldn't tell if the Lieutenant was more upset over the fact that he was drinking during such a time or if it was because he still flirted with her regardless. She liked to presume it was the latter of the two options but she wouldn't dare tell Nanao that. Despite that though, Captain Shunsui still remained at the top of his game and was one of the busiest Captains as both he, Captain Unohana and Captain Ukitake seemed to take it upon themselves to take the brute of the work going around.

Division Nine had been eerily silent and it was a type of silence she could recognize. Hisagi was doing all he could in his power to keep it running, even as more than half of the division members had left; it was a scenario she could relate to. She hadn't spoken to him in days though- it felt like they were both avoiding each other but she couldn't find a reason why. In a situation like this… she guessed she just figured they would've found more strength together than apart but it didn't seem like that was the case. They shared the same pain, but perhaps it would've been easier if they kept that pain separated. It was easier to let go of people than to try and reconnect- after such a close betrayal… it felt like no one could be trusted anymore.

She let out another long sigh, this one in relief, as the Division Ten house came into view; her long walk was finally over and she could drop off these annoying reports and hopefully never see them again. Carefully climbing the steps, she pushed aside the entrance door and stopped as she watched a few division members run back and forth across the open lobby-like area; she had forgotten what it was like to have more than just one person in a division house.

"Now… where did Hitsugaya say he wanted these?"

She glanced over at the question and managed to spot the blonde-haired Lieutenant just as she stepped out of one of the many, unlabeled rooms around. "Matsumoto!" she called in some attempt to get the woman's attention.

It seemed to have worked as the woman glanced up at the sudden call of her name and smiled. "Hinamori, what are you doing here? Did you walk all the way here?"

"How else was I supposed to drop off these reports?" she questioned as she carefully navigated her way towards the woman.

"Great, more stuff to file." the blonde huffed in slight annoyance before she pushed the foul mood aside. "I've been handling papers all morning, I think I have about a hundred paper cuts now."

She winced lightly. "Tell me about it, I've been up for five hours finishing off the last of these reports and detail papers."

"Couldn't sleep?" Matsumoto questioned; watching as the dark-haired girl nodded. "Yeah I think it's an epidemic of insomnia going around, which is going to get unhealthy for everyone. Soon enough we'll be wanting to tear each other apart more than we already do. It's a madhouse in here."

"I have a feeling it's a madhouse no matter where you go." Momo remarked with a light sigh. "But, here I thought I'd go ahead and drop these off before I forget them."

"I'll be sure to let Hitsugaya know." Matsumoto replied as she carefully took the folders. "Damn, how many reports did you write?"

"I don't know, I lost count after hour three." she shrugged lightly. "I don't know why I had to write so many, half of them didn't feel like they pertained to me but if they were requested, I figured I wasn't in a position to deny it."

"Ugh, that's how I feel everyday." the blonde sighed as she ruffled up her thick locks. "But, it has to be done so no point in trying to complain our way out of it." she let out another long sigh that only seemed to emphasize her exhaustion even more. "So anything else on the agenda today aside from doing this hellhole of work?"

"Just the usual, trying to keep my stomach down and trying not to embarrass myself out in public." Momo answered. "Other than that, I guess I'll go around and check with the other Captains and see if there's anything else I need to do. If not, then I'm going back to bed."

"I don't blame you, I mean if I was in your position-" Matsumoto chuckled.

"What position?"

The blonde froze for a moment before she slowly looked back to see her silver-haired Captain making his way towards them; his eyes slightly narrowed to follow in with his question. She had completely forgotten where they were standing- why the hell would she make a comment like that out in the open? Letting out a soft, nervous chuckle, she passed it off with a quick grin. "Well… I just can't get over how much work she has to do as temporary Captain- I mean, I don't think I could even imagine what you and the other Captains have to go through; it just seems like she never stops working, I couldn't even deal with a temporary job like that."

"Yes well… to be quite honest, I think this is the most a lot of the other Captains have ever done during their terms." Hitsugaya remarked as he grew closer to the two; pausing just briefly next to them. "It certainly makes people question their abilities to hold such a status in a time of need like this."

"I wouldn't doubt it." Matsumoto replied before she turned back to the shorter woman. "Do you think you'd be able to handle the stress of all of this? I mean… you're in a good position to take over Division Five-"

"What? Oh no, I don't want it." Momo quickly declined. "I mean, if there's no one else more suitable for it then I might consider but I don't even have Bankai yet and I'm nowhere close to achieving that anytime soon."

"Oh, can't be too difficult to achieve, right?" Matsumoto humored as she used the papers in hand to lightly fan herself against the growing morning heat that seemed to seep its way inside. "We can always train together and see if that helps any."

"Thanks but… I don't think I'm really in the mood to train anytime soon." Momo remarked with a light, forced chuckle. "I'm having a hard enough time trying to battle my way out of these reports and essays I have to do."

"Besides, Matsumoto would more likely slow you down anyways." Hitsugaya commented.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Matsumoto questioned; resting her hands on her hips as she looked down at the Captain.

"Where do you want me to start?"

"Ho ho, I see what this is about." she chuckled. "You know I'm not always _lazy-_"

"That's my cue to leave." Momo spoke with a nervous chuckle as she stepped back slightly. "But uh, there are your reports and I'm gonna head out to see if there's anything else I need to do." she didn't really give them much of a chance to recompose themselves as she quickly headed out of the Division House as fast as she could. A long sigh left her as she stepped out into the slightly more welcoming breeze of the morning; startling herself as she nearly ran headfirst into another figure. The cold glare of the Second Division Captain was enough to make her carry on with her travels without so much as a second of hesitation; Captain Soifon was a scary enough person on a good day… and from the look on her face, this was far from one of those kind of days. Of all the Captains, she seemed to be the only one trying to get ahead of the situation and the break of dawn would echo the sharp torture she put herself through in hour-long training sessions; to her, this was all a breach of security- a breach she couldn't catch in time. It would be a lot less stressful if she tried to just… ignore the Captain for now and forget that minor encounter ever happened.

For now… she just needed to continue on with her day and find a way to escape the every growing pressure that consumed the space in her chest.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Okay so yes, as a forewarning, there is a bit of sexual content in the flashback; I just wanted to throw that out now so no one's caught off-guard and I get in trouble for it (it has happened before.) I balanced between making it graphic but decided that with this particular couple, it needed to be a bit more sensual instead. I personally think it fits them better but then again, I have written both for them and either or seem to work. **

So, she did make plans to visit the other Divisions to see if she could do anything but she could barely make it back to her own Division house before she gave in. It wasn't like she wanted to spend her morning in the bathroom, puking up whatever was left in her stomach but it seemed like her body had other plans for her. Plans she couldn't exactly change at this point.

"Hinamori!"

Now was not the time for her to be entertaining guests right now- she didn't even feel like answering the door. The heavy ringing in the back of her head kept her from recognizing the voice; she couldn't even figure out if the voice was feminine or masculine.

"I'm a… little busy right now!" she called back; or at least attempted to before another cramp of her stomach brought her back to the floor. She just wanted to lay on the cool, bathroom floor and never get back up.

It took a few minutes before a knock on the door answered; a slight shadow showing up from underneath the door. "Are you okay? Do you need help?"

The throbbing in the back of her skull seemed to grow worse at the additional voice; her entire body felt like it was encased in some kind of numbing sense of agony. Yeah, she definitely wasn't in the mood or condition to be speaking to someone personally. "I'm fine…" she replied; although it sounded more like a mumble of words rather than a cohesive answer. "It's just one of those days where my body hates me."

There was a light chuckle on the other side. "I'm pretty sure for your case, you get to miss quite a few of those days."

"Yeah well, it doesn't feel like it." She commented back. It was taking her quite a bit of energy and strength but she managed to convince herself to her feet; using the nearby counter as a support system. She half shuffled, half forced herself to the bathroom door before she pulled it open. "My hair's a mess, I can't feel half of my body, my back is killing me and I smell like the inside lining of my stomach."

"I can't say that I know exactly how that is fragranced but… I think I could use my imagination." Nanao offered as she carefully crossed her arms. "I mean, after living with Shunsui, you get used to weird and odd smells- mostly of alcohol."

"Ugh, the thought of alcohol makes me want to throw up more than I already have." Hinamori groaned as she leaned against the doorframe.

"I'd offer to make you some calming tea, but I have a feeling that it'll just be a waste." she remarked. "Is there anything I can do to help though?"

"Hmm no, not really. I just want to lay in bed all day till this migraine goes away." she started. "But I have so much to do and I was going to go by the other Divisions to see if they needed anything; why did I have to have one of these fits right now?"

Nanao chuckled lightly as she carefully pushed aside the door and stepped into the small, crowded bathroom. "Well if Nemu was here, she could probably give you the run down on statistics and scientific reasoning and probability as to why this event occurred at this given moment." she lightly hooked an arm around the smaller Lieutenant's shoulders and pulled her along with her. "Come on, we can just sit on the floor and… I don't know, talk about our day."

"That sounds oddly pleasant." she started as she followed the taller woman. The two sat down against the side of the tub and she found herself leaning up against the woman's side in exhaustion. "Hmm if I fall asleep right here, don't hesitate to wake me up, okay?"

"I'll try but sometimes you can sleep like a rock." Nanao remarked; watching as the girl seemed to be somewhere between keeping herself awake and nodding off. "You know, this morning sickness thing can last a few more weeks at this point."

"Ugh, I could barely survive if it last a few more hours." she groaned. "It's not like I eat that much, so what else is there left for me to throw up at this point."

"You would be surprised, believe me; I have seen far too many people throw up far too many times."

"Well now, look at the Division you work at." Momo reminded with a light chuckle. "But now I have to ask, how do you know how long morning sickness can last?"

"Uh well, you see ever since you told us about the pregnancy, I thought it would be supportive if I tried to read up a bit on it; so I got some maternity books to read through to see if they would help me help with this situation a bit more." Nanao answered.

"You better not let Shunsui find those."

"Rest his soul if he did." she chuckled. "Not that that would have any connection to me or anything between us."

She snickered lightly at the woman's sudden jump in defense. "Don't worry, I don't think I'm in any position to push the question of that topic on anyone else."

"No one is ever in the position to question that topic." Nanao spoke. "The thought of that is just… well it's not a topic that is to be discussed between people who are not involved in such a case. As far as I'm concerned, I'm the only one allowed to discuss it and as far as I know, there is nothing to be discussed of either way. It's such a silly topic to waste time on and goodness knows there's plenty else to worry for aside from such petty topics."

"Tell me about it."

"I could keep going on but that'll only put you to sleep or make you throw up more."

"Well now I'm curious as to what you would tell me."

"You don't want to know." Nanao remarked.

Well if Nanao was telling her it was a bad idea… it probably was. She shifted her position slightly so that she could rest more against the woman's shoulder. "Hey, when you're done with those books… can I borrow them? I should probably stop avoiding this whole thing and just accept it at this point because I don't know what I'm getting myself into."

"Yeah, I actually meant to bring one or two by but I got so flustered with organizing paperwork I forgot about them." Nanao replied. "I'll see if I can't drop them off later tonight."

"Thanks, although if I have to read anything about any more morning sickness, I'm going to scream." she sighed. "And if there's any graphic pictures in there about childbirth, I'm going to throw the book out the window and light it on fire."

"Oh don't worry, I already scanned ahead for those." Nanao commented. "And so far, three out of four are safe to view. I thought about leaving out the fourth book for Shunsui to find."

She chuckled once more and listened to the woman as she went off on another short-lived rant. It was always entertaining to hear her when she didn't censor herself or when no one else was around to hold her to her word. She was always the one who usually played referee or had to be the calm-headed one in the heat of arguments; she was the kind of person who wanted to hear two different sides of the argument before she intervened; most of the time, she was always right and her ability to remain level-headed kept her well out of trouble.

So… that meant she could tell her anything… right?

"Hey Nanao… can I… tell you a secret?"

"Well I consider myself a very trustworthy person, so yes, yes you can." she nodded.

A horrible feeling seemed to twist in her stomach for a moment, but this time it wasn't from the morning sickness. "I just… it feels like I should tell at least someone else about this but every time I start… it begins to feel like a bad idea."

"You can tell me, it's not like I'm going to judge you." Nanao replied. "I said I wanted to be supportive about this, and listening to whatever you have to say is doing just that."

So then… this was it right? She had already started it, so no sense in trying to back out… she had already dug herself in this deep, there was no way out anymore. But the fear kept her from wanting to continue on; that fear kept searching for a way out of this mess… despite how hopeless that search was now.

"You said you wanted to know who the father was… right?"

"I…- yeah, we are all a little curious about it."

This was it, time to man it up… don't cry, Hinamori.

"It's… it's Aizen…"

* * *

"_Captain…"_

_She couldn't write down the records of how things between them happened or how the line of their relationship blurred to nothing. It felt like it was in that one moment where everything they had worked for was tossed aside so carelessly; they couldn't return to their previous standing in this relationship, everything was changed forever. But in that one moment, she didn't care; she felt as though she would condemn herself for feeling otherwise. _

_This was what she wanted; what they both wanted._

_She wanted to know what it was like to have his hands and body against her own. The curiosity of the matter seemed to overshadow her hesitation and novice in such actions. It was his more expert touches and lips that helped her down from her fear and held her in such comfort that she had forgotten all else of the matter. _

_"… Aizen..."_

_His lips held against her own in a mix of both passion and possession; his arms were wrapped so tightly around her, all she could feel was the shared heat of their bodies against one another. Her hands never left the deep curve of his jawline as she held onto him with the matching sense of desire that kept him against her. It was the heat and friction between them that felt as though it cemented their bodies to each other. It was in the way his hips rolled between her thighs; each and every motion handled carefully and made to be as delicate as possible. He offered her a type of heat that seemed to generate only from the depths of her body and flush its way through her veins and flood her skin with a crimson-like blush. It was in the way he grabbed tight to her as though afraid he might lose her in the midst of the passion and lust that drowned them; in the way his lips never failed to make the right motion or say the right words; in the way his body carefully worked in time with her own to make every move more desirable than the last. _

_Her fingertips stroked the curve of his spine that settled at the back of his neck; her arms locked lightly around him as she buried her fingers in the mess of his brown locks. She pulled him closer to her and held his larger form against her; her eyes were closed as she focused on only listening to the heavy pants that left him. His lips moved to cradle the curve of her neck as the tip of his tongue traced shapes against the throbbing artery underneath. It was in every little touch he gave away that left her gasping and moaning for more._

_She didn't know if this kind of relationship was allowed or not, but perhaps that thought of it being forbidden made it all the more exhilarating. The thought of keeping such a secret when the need to exploit such a desire was too great… it made the friction harder and hotter between them. It made every touch softer and sweeter; every kiss more and more lustful as it balanced on the edge of being a sin. The tangled sheets around them shielded them from the sight of the rain that collected outside the window; it barely masked them from the strikes of lightning that threatened to give away their shadows to a stranger; the thunder itself seemed to work for them as it hid the moans and screams from their fellow division members. Everything about this night felt like it needed to happen; it felt more right than wrong._

"_Hinamori…"_

_His voice sounded almost weak against his own emotions as it left as a shuddered sigh from his lips; it came out in such a tone she had never heard before. No one could repeat that kind of tone or relive calling her name out like that… It was a second of voice that burned itself into her memory and drove her to tighten her arms around him. She didn't want anything else from this night if all she could keep was the way he called her name like that. If she could keep just that… then she could keep him with her forever._


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I'm really quite surprised at how well I'm keeping up with these chapters and at least attempting to keep within the storyline, or at least some form of a storyline. I can't really say I know how the Zanpakuto thing works, I think my sister made me watch a few episodes of it but again, this is like my first Shinigami-type story so I'm still trying to hang in with the characters. If things start to line into a bit of OOC, I apologize it could be because of my lack of likeness in the Shinigamis (not to say that I hate them, they're just lower on my list) or it could be because of my own interpretation of their attitudes- which could just be wrong overall. Either way, it may or may not happen, I just want to throw some forewarning in advance. Thanks for the reviews, guys, they keep me motivated to keep up with my constant updates which is usually rare for me to do. **

She groaned lightly as consciousness seemed to flood itself willingly into her brain. Her body ached far too greatly for her to even want to think at this point. Although, what exactly was it that she was waking up from? Okay, so there were two options here, she either: A, fell asleep or B, she passed out. Both of which were similar and very likely to have happened. Then again, looking back on all the energy wasted from puking up her stomach, she wasn't really surprised she managed to make herself go unconscious; it seemed like a liable reaction.

Ugh, there was that horrible aftertaste still in the back of her mouth though.

Pushing herself from her covers, she managed to roll herself from the bed and unsteadily got to her feet. Her balance was still a little off, but it was getting better as she shuffled across her bedroom. One hand rubbed at her still sleeping eyes while the other fumbled to get her bedroom door open. Despite the last few hours in the bathroom, she found herself still craving something- God, she hoped it wasn't one of those weird food cravings Nanao had told her about. Where was Nanao anyways? She remembered the woman somewhat holding her in the bathroom and going off on the different details about the things to come in this upcoming pregnancy; half of it, she was not looking forward to. The situation got blurry after that and then just kind of dropped off into darkness, which was probably about the time she eventually fell asleep.

Shuffling down the corridor, she paused slightly at the small echo of voices coming from one of the rooms further in front of her. Her dark eyes narrowed slightly at the echoed conversation before she slowly moved herself towards it; it had been a long, long time since she had heard voices this late at night- or at least she assumed it was nighttime now. How long had she been out? Easing herself towards the voices, she listened a bit more intently before she realized that she recognized them. There was Matsumoto and, that comment was made by Nanao… and that was Isane sighing. What were they doing here? Not that she didn't mind their company, she just didn't quite feel completely up to it- not to mention, she had a headache to take care of first.

"Considering the timing of this… would… would he ever know?" Matsumoto questioned as she leaned back on her arms; her blonde locks flooded over her shoulders but did little to hide the exhausted look in her eyes.

"Not likely." Isane replied with another long sigh; her body felt like it hurt from the long hours she had put in that day- but it had been spent doing a few things here or there, nothing too major that would caused for her back to ache like it did. She tried to rub at the heavy knot that had settled on the back of her neck- this came to no avail on the matter though. "I mean… she couldn't be more than a few weeks, right? Which, in given the timeframe as it is… it matches up to about the days before he left; days before he had faked his death. How did we… not pick up on this? I mean, she was in Division Four for a few days after he stabbed her. How did we not know?"

"Well it's not like you were looking for a baby." Matsumoto reminded as she rubbed at the back of her neck as if to mimic the other Lieutenant. "It was probably too early to even detect at that point anyways. And I hate to bring this up but… this whole matter isn't going to go over well…"

Nanao shook her head as she carefully pushed up on her glasses once more. "Of course not. Everyday we're reminded of what Aizen did to Soul Society; everyday we remember what his betrayal did to our structure. No one can trust each other, everyone's on edge and we all want to blame someone; we all think someone should have caught on but… the truth is, is his scheme was practically foil proof up to the day of his departure. People… aren't going to react well to this kind of news. If anything, they'll be outraged."

"Yeah but… they couldn't be outraged at her, can they? I mean, it's not like she knew-" Matsumoto started.

"You see, that's the problem; people don't want to accept that she didn't know anything. You saw how close she was to him. How could she not have known with that kind of relationship?" Nanao remarked. "And that's how people are going to twist this situation around. I mean, what if it had been Hitsugaya who betrayed us? People would be pointing fingers at you; they want to have someone to blame because it makes the situation just a little easier to deal with. That way, they don't have to blame themselves for their own incompetence. I don't know where to start with the possibilities of how this is going to end but… it's… it sounds like it's going to be a losing situation for her regardless."

"You don't think they would do anything… do you?" Isane questioned.

"It's… possible. I mean, she's pregnant with the child of Soul Society's greatest threat. There are all sorts of options that they could choose. They could… use this to gain an advantage on him, see if they could play it off and draw him into a vulnerable state; we don't know how he would react to it, so it's possible that he would want to come back for her. In which case, she would be held like a prisoner in her own home. Other options are… not as bright as that one."

"How exactly is that bright?" Matsumoto grimaced.

Nanao sighed deeply and lightly rested her hands in her lap; her next set of words were hard to find and even harder to form. "Well at least in that possible option they… they would let both her and the child live. It's cruel but… it's still possible that they would want her to get rid of it or just kill them both. I don't know and frankly to say, I don't want to think about it. We have no way of knowing… hell we don't even have all the details of this situation."

"Would the circumstance change if… if the child wasn't willing?" Matsumoto spoke; struggling to get the words out. "I mean… if she was so reluctant to tell us till now, even though she knew who the father was from the start… Is it a possibility? She was so close to him, I don't think she would've even known the difference."

"It's hard to accept that kind of scenario but it's still plausible." Isane nodded.

"I have to agree but… we don't know, only she does." Nanao whispered tiredly.

They weren't really having that kind of conversation, right?

They weren't talking about what she thought they were… right?

She slowly backed away from the doorway along with her better judgment; hell, she didn't even have the guts to let them know of her presence- and let them know she had overheard everything. Just the thought that they would talk about it like that, it squeezed at her lungs and almost brought a stifled gasp from her lips. God, she was losing more and more control over her emotions but if she let them slip anymore, they would be able to tell she was nearby.

She ran back down the corridor as quietly as she could and stopped at her open bedroom door for a moment but passed it on. It only took a few more hallways and a turn here or there before she found her way to the roof hatch. Whenever she panicked, she would spend hours up here- it was the only place that still felt safe. Pulling herself up along the locker, she almost welcomed the cold night air against her skin. The stark reality of the breeze hit her hard and kept her awake; it was the one thing she liked about the cold… it reminded her of her vulnerability. Slowly walking on the slanted roof slabs, she found her usual spot and carefully seated herself on the familiar shingles.

Was that what everyone was questioning?

That she would allow for herself to be taken advantage of? She was but not in that sense- if anything, that was the last kind of situation to be spoken of in such manner. It was just… God, it felt like it physically hurt her to hear them talk about her that way. She couldn't blame them and if anything, she was the one who walked in on it but… she just didn't want this whole thing to explode. But those were just empty wishes; empty wishes that would dissolve under the oncoming pressure from the outside world- from those who were outside to her.

"_How long are you going to sit up here and gripe about this?"_

She frowned slightly at the words and pulled her knees into her chest. Tobiume was the last person she wanted to speak to right now.

"_I heard that."_

"Well then maybe you should get the hint." she replied.

A long sigh echoed from the spirit before the air space next to her seemed to shift and collect to form the familiar look of the woman. Her face was set in a look of discontent but she attempted to at least keep most of her comments to herself.

"_You're going to get nowhere in this if you just sit up here and cry about it."_

"Then what do you suggest I do?"

The woman nodded her head slowly as though that question was the one question she had been waiting her entire life to answer. _"Simple really. You need to refocus your emotions and turn your weakness into a strength. He's not… going to be here for you, Hinamori, which means you need to work harder to defend yourself. We may not get along greatly at times but.. I know there's more power in you than you let on. So, you need to unleash it; you need to tap into those reserves and make yourself stronger. If not for you then… for that child that's growing inside of you. Do you think you can raise it if you act like such a weakling?"_

She had to admit… the words stung a bit to hear but she was right; for once, Tobiume was giving her sound advice. "I… I'm not in the condition to train anymore but… I think I'll still be able to make myself stronger."

"_When you can take yourself back onto the training field… we're going to work together. We're both going to achieve that Bankai and… you're going to take over the Fifth Division. You used to speak so warmly of it; you called it your home… I almost miss those words."_

"I know you never liked him but… if something happens… you're not going to leave me, right?"

"_Pft, please, even if I wanted to I couldn't."_ Tobiume replied before she decided to quickly add. _"But I don't because without me, I don't know if you would be able to protect yourself; I feel like if I'm not here, then anything is possible to happen. It even seems like you can't trust the friends that you have-" _

"That's not true, they were just… they're just worried and scared… like I am." she started. "I went off and dragged them all into this. And if something happens, they could get blamed for not telling someone about this whole situation."

"… _Regardless, I'll still be here. If anything happens though, I expect for you to give me full permission to do what I think is necessary."_

She listened to the spirit speak and for a moment, there almost seemed a light hint of humor in her voice; no doubt she had been waiting for a long time to get such a request fulfilled. "It will depend. I don't want to… rush into anything just yet but… I guess I'll have to trust your judgment if a situation like that arises."

"_Excellent, I will put my plans into order then."_

"Wait, what plans?" Momo started to question, only to watch as the sword spirit vanished into thin air. "Tobiume! Tobiu- that's not very funny."

Ugh, sometimes the woman just annoyed her and she bet it was on purpose too.

"Hinamori? Are you up here?"

Of course, she would give herself away like that, right when she no longer felt like dealing with anyone. Maybe if she just remained quiet, no one would find her. Yeah, like that was going to happen. She couldn't cut a break with her sword if she wanted to.

"Are you up here?" Matsumoto called as she pulled herself through the roof hatch. "What are you doing? It's too cold to be up here and it's far too late to be out."

"I'm fine, it's just… I have a lot to think about right now."

"It's okay if you want to think inside too."

"I just don't feel like being around anyone else right now." Hinamori replied; watching as the woman tried to hide her mild sense of disappointment at the words. "I'll just… I'll go back inside when I feel like it. I'm sorry if I worried you."

It took the blonde-haired woman a moment before she slowly nodded. "Okay, if you need anything, we're all downstairs."

"I know, I overheard all of you in there earlier."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I decided to take a break and skipped that last update; just trying to get this into perspective here and figure out how I'm going to layout the rest of the story. Thanks for the reviews guys!**

She waited till they had all left before she climbed down from the rooftops.

A confrontation at this point wasn't… it wasn't going to serve her well.

The next morning found her piled under blankets and pillows in some effort to completely erase herself from the outside world. It wasn't helping though. She could still feel the early morning sun and she could hear the birds chirping outside and… the world was still there. And she was still in it.

She let a long, hard sigh drag itself from her lips as she worked herself to slowly roll over from underneath the blankets. Although, the blanket seemed to weigh a bit more than she remembered…

"Good morning Hinamori."

Don't panic, don't panic.

"Nemu… why are you in my room again? And… why are you in my bed this time?"

"Isane said it would be good for you if I dropped by this morning and you looked cold with all the blankets, so I thought I would try to help by sharing body heat with you."

"Oh well… uh… that's really not the problem here so… you can leave if you want." She replied.

"Do you want me to?"

"Well… I don't know, I just think it's a bit awkward for you to be in bed with me."

"Why?"

She sighed and pulled the blanket back over her head. "Why did Isane say it would be good for me if you were here?"

"I don't know, but I could make a few good assumptions as to why." Nemu started.

"Are you even allowed to be here? I mean, wouldn't Captain Mayuri be upset?"

"Captain Mayuri is in a meeting with the other Captains this morning, so I have a few hours off. And since my help was requested from another Division, I have a liable reason as to why I am not tending to the labs right now. After all, Akon is also there to take care of any unnecessary or sudden incidents, should they occur."

"Oh yeah… well what if another fire erupts?"

"Then I will more than likely see it from here should another one occur despite the new safety guidelines we initiated."

"Oddly enough, that only frightens me more." Momo sighed as she slowly put her hands over her face. "Now then, I guess I should force myself out of bed and face the world… or not." today was just not her day. In fact, she didn't even want to get out of bed and recognize the world was still there. She just wanted to roll over and disappear. After her confession yesterday and overhearing their conversation… she imagined no one wanted to be associated with her anymore… Well, aside from Nemu but she wasn't even there last night, which was probably one of the only reasons she was here now.

"You are not looking well today, perhaps it would be better if you were to sleep in."

"No, it's fine, it's more of a… mental issue really." she frowned before she slowly pushed herself up and out from underneath the covers. "I have a lot of work that needs to be done today and I'm sure you do too, so it's okay if you want to leave now."

"Isane said-"

"It's fine, I'm fine, everything is just fine." Momo interrupted as she pulled her uniform from where she had tossed it aside the night before. "I just… I don't know, it sounds selfish to say that all I want is some alone time right now. I know everyone's just trying to help but… it just feels like it would be better if they didn't." her fingers seemed to fumble as she tried to properly put on her uniform and slip the white sash around her waist. Everything just felt like a hassle coming at her all at once. An exhausted sigh left her at the pure difficulty there was in just trying to put on her uniform- this day was not off to all that great of a start already. Maybe she should've just stayed in bed instead. "Look, I'm sorry if that all came out sounding wrong-" she started as she turned back to the woman behind her; the Twelfth Lieutenant hadn't even moved from her spot somewhere between the tangle of bed sheets and pillows.

"… Nanao informed me about yesterday…"

"… Did she tell you everything?"

"Yes."

She tried to take in a deep breath, only to have it break about halfway in; she didn't know why she already felt like crying but it was taking every bit of strength not to. The bottled up emotion was going to drive her insane one day but… she just couldn't lose it right now. "Well then I… can't blame you if you want to leave and not come back."

"Why would I do that?"

"Why would you- I don't know, maybe because the father of my baby is also the man who betrayed Soul Society and is also the same one who's on the brink of destroying it." Momo reminded; trying to keep her voice from breaking. "I just… I'm scared someone's going to find out and I honestly don't know what would happen if they did… I don't know what they would do and that thought alone frightens me to a point I've never been before."

The other Lieutenant remained silent for a moment before she spoke. "It's okay."

"No it's not because now I've dragged everyone into this mess." she sighed quietly and pushed aside her messy locks of hair. "You guys know and technically, you're supposed to report anything and everything to your Captains and if you don't… you could end up being jailed for treason or something; I just don't want anything like that to happen, I can't let you guys fall with me."

"It is true that we could be marked up as such but, that's only if someone else finds out." Nemu reminded as she carefully pushed herself up from the bed. "If no one finds out, then there can be no charges."

"So what? I lie about the paternity of my child?"

"That is a trivial matter to worry for later."

"Of course because I haven't been doing enough procrastination with that subject already; it feels like every day is just one where I take all my problems and push them somewhere else. What do I do when there's no more space to push them into?"

"We will simply worry about that when the time comes around to it." Nemu shrugged. "And when it does… we will do what we have to."

She let a soft, almost tragic chuckle leave her for a moment. "I guess I'll have to own up to it eventually, right?"

"No, we all will."

* * *

"What do we say if she answers?"

"Well we don't say anything insulting."

"Why do you automatically assume I'm going to say something like that?"

Isane shook her head at the two as she cautiously approached the Fifth Division door; there was no sense in trying to lie about their shared discomfort over the whole situation. First, it was Nanao telling them what Hinamori had told her the day before… and then, it was her overhearing their conversations about it. It's not like they could uphold much of a reason to it, they just… they couldn't help but discuss it- it needed to be discussed in some instances. They were just worried about what might happen if anyone else found out about it; they were… they didn't want anything like that to happen but it was still plausible.

But they were also determined to avoid any of those situations.

They weren't going to stand aside.

Taking her time up the front steps, she started to knock but froze the moment a short scream was emitted from inside. There was panic and slight hesitation before she pushed the door aside and rushed in; listening to Matsumoto and Nanao as they scrambled in after her.

"What is it?"

"Ugh, I knew that kettle wasn't good anymore." Momo sighed in agitation as she stepped out from the kitchen. "Here, I'll go get a towel to clean up this mess."

"What happened in here?" Matsumoto questioned; slight on the falling edge of panic.

"What? Oh, that damn kettle finally reached its last leg." Momo answered as she used one hand to push aside her fallen bangs. "It kind of exploded and sprayed boiling hot water all over the kitchen and all over Nemu."

"This is not the first time this kind of accident has occurred to me." Nemu started as she slowly appeared into the sitting area. The front of her uniform was drenched and her black bangs were heavy with water, slightly sticking to her skin now. "It's only water."

"Yeah, water that's been boiled to like two hundred degrees."

"Actually the more accurate boiling point of water is around one hundred degrees."

"Forget about the boiling point of water… please." Nanao muttered; pinching the soft skin between her eyes.

"What are you guys doing here anyways?" Momo questioned as she searched through the nearby pile of half-folded laundry before she found a decently-sized towel to use; she tossed it to the Twelfth Division Lieutenant to use in an attempt to dry off herself off. "I thought you'd be too busy with work today."

"Ah yes, well uh… about that." Isane started. "We wanted to… apologize for what you might've overheard last night-"

"You mean, for what I did hear last night." she corrected as she slowly went back to finish folding through the half-worked pile of clothing in the basket next to her.

"Uh… yeah."

She focused on a bit of just folding the soft pink sweater in her hands before she lightly tossed it into a second basket that was neatly filling with finished laundry pieces. A long sigh left her as she tried to find the next wording. "I… I'm sure you had your reasons and there's really no need to apologize… but regardless, that's not something I want to exactly listen to right now. Do you think it was easy for me to just… come clean like that? I wasn't even planning on telling anyone, not even you guys but you know what… I had a weak moment- in fact, I've had a hellva lot of them, too many to just try and push away. I was weak when I finally gave the answer everyone's been waiting for and there hasn't been a moment where I haven't regretted that decision since. Maybe it was for the better but… right now, it feels like that was the worst choice to make."

"Is that really what you think?" Matsumoto questioned. For the life of her, she almost couldn't believe the words that were coming from the woman. Did she… was she really planning on hiding this from them? From her? They were close, she thought she'd be trustworthy enough with this kind of information but… apparently not so. Although to be fair, that wasn't exactly the best conversation to hold but damnit, it was a topic that needed to be discussed- or at least she thought so.

"Yeah, it is. It sounds harsh and I sometimes wonder if that's what I'm really saying, but it is. I'm sorry if it comes off as rude and critical but I never expected to hear you guys saying that kind of stuff. I'm sure it was all for a good reason, I mean you're worried about the future and worried about the reactions because let's face it, this isn't going to remain a secret forever. But let's just… let's just talk about it later or at least not within my hearing vicinity or within my Division. Can we just agree on that?" she watched as the other three nodded lightly in answer. "Okay… well then, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to search the back rooms for another kettle; if not, I'll just have to go downtown one day and buy another one."

Isane waited till the woman had left the room and her footsteps had partly disappeared down the adjoining corridor before she released a long sigh. "Well, can't say that we didn't deserve that."

"It's kind of true." Matsumoto reluctantly agreed.

"You know, throughout the lasting pregnancy, the occurrence of mood swings is always rising and can never be fully predicted." Nemu started as she finished drying off what she could of the recent kettle explosion. "It's due to a hormonal imbalance in the body-"

"That's lovely Nemu, but it's not exactly going to help us right now." Nanao sighed.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: And to think this story was supposed to stop at ten chapters, where did I go wrong? I blame my creativity/imagination and tendency to make things far more complicated than they should be. **

"_You really proved yourself there."_

"Shut up, Tobiume."

The spirit wrinkled her nose slightly at the sharp response but still continued to keep a somewhat steady pace beside her. _"So now what are you going to do? It's not like you can just walk in there and act like you guys are still all buddy-buddy with each other."_

"Yes I can and I will." Momo replied; watching as the spirit only shook her head as though to taunt her further. She only sighed roughly and tried to ignore the woman as she continued on down the corridor; a new kettle held tightly in her hands. It took some moving around and climbing up a few shelves before she eventually found it- probably the only one they had for now. "Besides, it was probably just my hormones acting up."

"_Or maybe it was them talking about you behind your back-"_

"Would you drop it already?" she snapped.

"_Yeah, yeah, yeah…"_

Shaking her head, she ruffled up her brown locks and carefully reintroduced herself into the sitting area; barely making eye contact with anyone inside. "We're in luck, I happened to have just one in stock. Hopefully it'll last through today without blowing up."

"Would you like for me to try and attempt to make tea once more?"

"Here, let me handle it; I'm pretty sure I won't make it spontaneously combust." Matsumoto offered as she started to get up from where she had seated herself.

"Okay, but only because I'm feeling really lazy right now." Momo replied as she allowed for the woman to take the kettle from her hands. She rubbed at her sore lower back for a moment before she continued on over to her usual sitting area; settling herself somewhere between Nanao and Nemu. "I don't think I'm going to be looking forward to the whole 'gaining weight' part of this."

"Yeah, all thirty-five pounds of it." Nanao remarked.

"Ew."

"On average that is; it could be less or it could be more."

"I want to aim for less." she chuckled lightly. "Although, as long as the throwing up part goes away, I guess I'll settle for whatever comes next."

"I don't know, the weird food cravings might be enough to make us throw up instead." Isane teased.

"Totally worth it."

Nanao chuckled herself before she reached into the bag she had placed at her side. "Here, I brought over some of those books you had requested; they might be able to help you sleep at night instead though."

"That's not necessarily a bad thing." Momo shrugged as she took the books the woman handed to her. "I'm always up at dawn even after just a few hours of sleep; it'd be nice to be able to sleep through the night for once."

"Well from what the books say, just be glad to get those few hours of sleep regardless." Nanao remarked.

"Ah, grand, something for me to look forward to." she sighed. "Because there wasn't enough to begin with, right?"

"Well, just think of the ending product."

"Yeah, a screaming, unhappy baby." Matsumoto added as she re-emerged from the kitchen with a tray in her hands. "Talk about even less sleep."

"You haven't even been around a baby before." Nanao reminded.

"Pft, I've been to the human world plenty of times before and they have them all over the place." the blonde retorted as she tried to balance the tray in one hand and pass out the cups with the other. "They never seem happy."

"Probably because you're around them."

"Hey, hey, it could be a number of things." Isane interrupted the two as she carefully held the warm teacup in hand. "I mean, it could be lack of sleep, feeling of being uncomfortable, maybe there were too many strangers around or maybe they couldn't find their mother."

"Hence, the stranger part."

Sighing lightly, she took the offered cup of tea but set it aside for now- her stomach wasn't really feeling up to indulging something right now. "You know, the more we talk about babies, the more I get confused on whether or not I'm looking forward to it."

"Just give it a few months and you'll be excited."

"Everyone says that."

"Well then maybe you should start listening to them." Nanao chuckled.

"So, who wants to make bets on what it is?" Matsumoto offered; tossing the tray aside as soon as she was finished with it. "Because, I totally want to be the first to bet and/or hope that it's a girl. How cute would that be? You could dress her up in cute little dresses and show her off to the world."

Nanao shook her head lightly and pushed up on her glasses. "Do me a favor, if it's a girl, don't let Matsumoto around it."

"Yes because it becoming another bookworm is really going to help."

Isane chuckled as she watched the blonde only seemed to gloat at her sharp comeback while the Eighth Lieutenant only muttered something in response. "I know it's early, but have you thought of any names?"

"What? At the moment, I just figured a name was the least of my worries." Momo replied with a light, innocent shrug. "And even if I thought of one, I'd have to think of a second one incase it was a boy and then when the sex is confirmed, I'd have to rethink it all over again because I probably won't like the first pick anymore."

"Which is probably why you should start now." Isane shrugged. "Plus, I think it would be cute to toss around a few names."

"If it's a girl, name it after me!" Matsumoto grinned. "Rangiku is such a beautiful name anyways, it should be passed on."

"And what if it's a boy?" Momo questioned.

"Name it after Nemu."

* * *

Amends have silently been made and the three or four hour conversation about baby names had helped to convince her that they were still there for her; it was just ill-timing and a bit of overreaction… but the important thing was that she could trust them again.  
She still didn't have a name though- she would've preferred to not make that kind of decision right now. There was a lot that she didn't know at the moment and for now, she was willing to push it off into the future for herself to deal with then. At least for now, she could worry about relaxing and getting other things together. The upcoming months would be okay but the moment she started showing, things were going to have to change quickly. So… maybe if she got everything done now, then later on there wouldn't be so much outside dependence on her- or at least, hopefully no one would question her sudden choice to avoid the outside world. But seeing how plans normally went for her… that was probably all going to go to hell in a hand basket; or run like a train whose tracks had just been uprooted and tossed aside.

Either way, in the end it was all going to crash down on top of her in some kind of fiery disaster.

But maybe there was something to look forward to in the end. Some kind of beacon of light.

… Maybe she should look into this whole name business. It wouldn't hurt to start early right? But hell, she didn't even know where to start to begin with. There wasn't anyone she would name it after- and even if there was, it would almost seem like an insult really. She didn't really know any names off the top of her head that didn't relate to someone she knew and she didn't own one of those 'baby name' books that list any and every possible name- no matter how ridiculous.

So if she were to set up a list of difficulties in her life, it would probably go: one, telling everyone she was pregnant with the child of Soul Society's greatest threat and everything about it had been consensual.

And two, finding a name for her child.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Realized how... horrible that last chapter was written, so I decided to upload this one early to try and make up for that mistake. Now I think I'm getting to the good part- the part I was definitely looking forward to the most. **

How many months had passed now?

Was it four or five?

Ugh, however many it was, it felt like too many.

She wasn't entirely sure how she managed to make it this far without anyone knowing or noticing but… it must've been by a stroke of luck. Yeah, she barely left her Division House that much anymore or at least, she never really did from the start so it wouldn't seem suspicious; it also cut down the chance of anyone seeing her and noticing. It was beginning to get to the point where even as loose-fitting as her uniform was, the small rounded bump of her stomach was beginning to show through the fabric. It looked even worse when she was wearing something tighter-fitting- but she rarely wore those much unless she was dead certain no one was going to drop by suddenly. The morning sicknesses weren't as frequent anymore but every now and again, they would pick up; thankfully, they weren't near as bad as they had been before. The most she had to deal with now was horrible cramps, back aches, near sleeplessness, insomnia and the occasional mood swings that reduced her to tears for no reason apparently.

As hard as it was to manage everything she was going through, she was really quite thankful for the support she did get from the other three; it was difficult to maintain everything as a secret and she knew it was far worse for them- they were practically sneaking around their Captain's backs to help her. There were some days where she felt horrible for it but… she couldn't bring herself to just let this secret go. Yeah, it was going to eventually come to a point where it would be impossible to hide but she wanted to draw out the solitude and serenity for as long as she could. After that, she wasn't certain what would happen.

Yeah, maybe they would kill her; maybe they would tag her as a traitor and throw her into prison. Maybe they would make her out to be some kind of Scarlet Letter.

But maybe that was too cruel of a choice to think on… maybe things would be smoother; maybe things would get better. She didn't know and at this point in time, she didn't want to find out; she was happy with being ignorant on the topic. If this kind of peace could hold on for a few more months, she would be happy.

She paused slightly as she transferred the full kettle to a stove top; waiting a moment for the motion to repeat itself. It took a few seconds before she felt another small kick assault her from the inside; well, now it seemed like someone was awake. A light chuckle left her as she gently touched at the kicked area before she felt another one follow seconds after- as if in reaction to her presence. A few more hours of sleeplessness now but in some strange sense, it was worth it.

As soon as her water finished boiling, she could make some relaxing tea and head back to bed.

Hopefully anyways, but from the feeling of it, she would probably spend most of the night walking around to try and get the baby back asleep.

* * *

Her heart thundered in her chest as she tore her way across Seireitei. Every part of her was in mid-panic as she did little to acknowledge the figures she flashed by; their words of greeting were soon lost behind the faint dirt cloud she left in her wake. She could deal with them later, there was a matter that needed to be handled now.

It felt like she was traveling at neck-breaking speeds where even the slightly trip would send her careening hundreds of yards across the grassy fields; she was almost certain she was pushing her flash-stepping skills to their core max. And yet, she felt like she still wasn't moving fast enough. The rough breeze got caught in the folds of her uniform and seemed to pull her back with the extra weight; it felt like it was trying to stop her. Her blonde strands whipped wildly behind her and yet, they too seemed determined to grapple onto something and pull her back.

But the sight of the Fifth Division barracks brought some relief to her journey only to make the weight of guilty feel heavier in her chest. Racing herself up the front steps, she practically broke down the front door with her body; gasping and panting as she looked around the resting area in near panic.

Where was she?

She normally always hung around in this room during this time. The woman always complained of how she couldn't sleep anymore, so she would wait in here throughout the night- often times passing out in her chair. She jumped slightly as the kitchen door swung open suddenly to reveal the equally panicked figure on the other end.

"Matsumoto! Would you please not scare me like that?" Momo panted; the sudden scare left her with the overwhelming urge to throw up, which she did her best to fight against. And yet lost. "Ugh… excuse me!"

"Hinamori! Wait!" Matsumoto called after her but stopped the moment she heard that gut wrenching echoes of the girl in the next room. She cringed slightly and waited till the noises stopped before she watched as the woman returned a few minutes later; she looked a bit more pale than earlier and just slightly more distressed.

"What? Ooh… ugh I have to sit down now." she groaned and rubbed at her stomach while she made her way over to the chair that had been temporarily set up in one corner. It had just gotten to the point where if she did sit down on the floor, she wasn't entirely sure she could get back up. A long sigh of relief escaped her at the sudden comfort of being off her feet and the feeling of her stomach finally settling down. "Okay, sorry about that, what is it that you needed?" She was curious as to why the Tenth Lieutenant was here so late- not that it wasn't uncommon- but she had suddenly barged her way in and frankly, looked absolutely terrified. She wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to know what the news was. Was it another attack? Were there Hollow readings in the area? Did she and Hitsugaya get into a fight?

The woman was deathly pale when she finally found the strength to answer. "I… I am so sorry."

The words weren't the least bit comforting and left her with another slight drop in her stomach; she wasn't sure if she wanted to know what the answer would be. "What?… What is it?"

"I… I accidentally told Hitsugaya."

It felt like a cold unsettling weight was dropped on top of her all of a sudden.

The grave look on the woman's face told her she wasn't kidding either, not to say that this was even a laughing matter from the start.

"I… I… so he knows?" she slowly whispered; the words felt numb on her lips.

"I don't know how it happened, we were just talking and then he brought up you and I… I am so sorry Hinamori, I didn't mean for this to happen."

The thought of the rest of Soul Society knowing absolutely frightened her now. As if she didn't have enough to worry and panic about as it was… but this… this topped her list of fears. She knew it was going to happen eventually but this soon… she wasn't prepared; it felt like it had ambushed her out of nowhere.

"I… it's okay…"

"What are you saying? No it's not-" Matsumoto started; attempting to at least pull herself back together as she tried to fight against the tears in her eyes. Gods, she felt stupid for crying- it was such an ugly motion- but she couldn't stop them.

"No, you see because… everyone would've found out eventually… at least it's now and not when the baby's actually being born. I mean, could you imagine the reaction at that time?" Momo replied; trying to humor herself slightly with a faint chuckle. "It's like 'oh wow, I didn't even notice there was a baby inside of me this entire time…' Now what do I do?"

"I don't know… I mean, Captain Hitsugaya's probably already calling a meeting- but it's not like I told him that much. I didn't say anything about the father, although he might try to put the pieces together, there's no evidence to-"

"I'm not going to lie to him."

"What? But you- it would be- I just…"

She listened as the woman struggled to form a complete sentence; she knew well what she was trying to say but she wouldn't be able to go through with it. Yeah, she could've easily BS'ed it and said someone else was the father; she could've pointed the finger at someone else but… that wouldn't be fair. Her hand softly rubbed at the curve of her stomach and felt the continued kicks that followed afterwards- as though the baby was trying to keep up with her in an attempt to deepen their connection; or maybe it was just feeling her emotions beginning to break down and stress out. "I can't keep lying to everyone anymore… that's not what a Captain does- even if I'm just a temporary one for now. In some weird, odd sense, I feel like they deserve to know…"

A long sigh left the blonde as she leaned against the nearest wall for support. "I… I'll support whatever decision you make. I mean, I got you into this-"

"Let's face it, I got everyone into this and right now… there's no way to hide that." Momo remarked. "You can't back out of this, I've put you between a rock and a hard place… I think I should be the one to apologize."

Pushing herself away from the support now, she walked over to where the black-haired woman was seated; she looked physically and emotionally drained now as her hand seemed to be absentmindedly rubbing at her stomach. "Hinamori… we've known each other for a long time, so I'll be the first to say… that is the stupidest thing I've ever heard you say."

* * *

The sound of someone stumbling around outside her bedroom drug her from her somewhat peaceful sleep and had her fumbling to get her glasses as she headed towards the door. "Captain Shunsui, if you're outside my door again, I'm going to beat you with the hardcover version of War and Peace."

The scruff face of the Eighth Division Captain turned around as he wrestled to fit himself into his white jacket. "Ah, Nanao, I apologize if I woke you-"

"Are you drunk again?" she mumbled as she readjusted her glasses before she pulled her sleepwear closer around her- just in case a bit too much skin was showing around the Captain.

"No, actually I just received an urgent message from Captain Hitsugaya- he called for some kind of emergency meeting. I don't know what he's thinking when he calls for one at this hour but I suppose when he says it's important, it's important."

She watched as the long-haired Captain shuffled around as he tried to pull together all his clothing accessories; finishing off his ensemble with his oh-so present pink kimono and his wide-brim kasa-style hat. Judging from his slightly rushed steps and misses in getting dressed, he must've been telling the truth when he said it was urgent. But at this hour? What did Captain Hitsugaya have to say that was so vital that he needed to pull all the Captains together?

"Did he say anything about what it would be about?" Nanao questioned; doubting that the Captain really knew any details about the matter- or if he would even tell her if he did know.

"Ah, I'm not entirely sure really, he did not give us much to work off of. He just said he needed to organize an emergency meeting, that it was urgent and… oh, well he might've mentioned something about Officer Hinamori… He's been worried about her a lot these days; no one's really seen her that much. I guess his nerves are getting to him; I have no problem with listening to his concerns- after all, she could be a future Captain one day."

"Yeah… that does seem reasonable." she replied quietly; feeling a part of her slowly turning cold at the words. "Well uh… I guess I'll just go back to bed now… don't do anything stupid."

A soft chuckle left him as he walked over and lightly kissed her forehead. "Don't wait up for me."

She wrinkled her nose softly and watched as he started to head out. "Oh don't worry, I won't."

Waiting till he left her sight, she stepped back into her room and pulled the door closed before she went to gathering the closest uniform pieces to her. It probably wasn't much to worry about but… she didn't want to risk missing out on something. Momo was probably already asleep at this hour; maybe a little visit wouldn't spook her that bad.

She just wanted to make sure. No harm in that, right?


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: So pretty much, I think I do an okay job at handling normal Shinigamis but when it comes down to the Captains... I don't know what I'm doing. So they may be acting out of character because I don't know how they act really, these are just my impersonations of them.**

"_I'm just worried for her, that's all... I mean, she rarely comes out anymore and the only time anyone sees her, is if they go straight to the door. Other than that… it's like she's nonexistent." he whispered; fingertips lightly running through the tangled mess of blonde strands that spread out in a clean sheet around him. "If I wasn't so busy…"_

"_It's alright, she understands." his Lieutenant replied; half-mumbling as she seemed caught in the middle of staying awake and falling asleep- forcing herself to stay conscious for now. "You're busy, she's busy; everyone is busy."_

_Her words did little to comfort the nagging feeling in the back of his head that said he should be with her more often… but he had gone through that battle so many times before, there was no sense in repeating it. She was right… work came first right now but maybe soon… maybe soon that could change, who knows. "Have you seen her lately? How is she doing?"_

"_Hmmm…" the blonde sighed as she gave into a light stretch before letting her body go limp against the cool floor beneath them. "I saw her yesterday. She's doing pretty well but she's kind of restless most of the day; she has some kind of insomnia problem or something."_

"_Has she tried going to Division Four about it?"_

"_Yeah, well Isane said that's normal for someone in their second trimester-" the sudden halt in the woman's voice was the first thing that caught his attention before he let her words finally sink in._

"… _What are you talking about?"_

Second trimester? That was like- oh hell, he couldn't even make a guess on how far that was.

It couldn't be true though… he couldn't allow himself to believe it.

But… if she was… then why was she hiding it? Sure, the timing of it wasn't exactly the best, but that didn't mean it still wasn't something to celebrate, right? Just because things were a bit chaotic at the time, that didn't mean it was something to overlook. It was supposed to be one of those happy moments in one's life, right? Right? So… what the hell was there to hide? Maybe he had just been absent from her life for so long, he couldn't even make a guess on who the father would be. But, they were childhood friends, she would've told him about a pregnancy, wouldn't she? Instead, Matsumoto knew and yeah they were pretty close and maybe it was because they were both women- she wouldn't hide something like this from him… right?

Not unless she was trying to hide something about it…

No…

No, he couldn't let himself think like that. It wasn't going to be that… it wasn't going to be the obvious.

"Whoa now, if you looked anymore flustered, you'd probably melt into an ice puddle."

He glanced up at the words and took note of Captain Shunsui making his way into the open Division House; a few more Captains filed in after him. "I'm glad you could make it on such short notice."

"It better be for a good reason; do you know how much time I'm wasting by being here?" Soifon snapped lightly as tugged at her jacket.

There were second thoughts on the decision to gather the other Captains here, but at this point, he pushed aside those uncertainties and nodded. "Believe me, Captain Soifon, I know how precious timing is at this point." the woman seemed to glare and wrinkle her nose at the remark but said nothing else- instead, she opted to take one of the better seats in the room. "I apologize for the late notice though."

"Oh, I'm certain it is for a good reason." Unohana spoke as she followed in next and took the seat closest to her. "It's very rare for you to call for a meeting at any hour."

He nodded and waited for the few others to gather with them; Captains Komamura and Byakuya were the last to show but he should be thankful that they even answered the call. There was no cutting around the topic now… he had to get to the heart of it. "Captain Unohana, might I ask you a question?"

"Certainly."

"This will sound odd, but what exactly… is the timeline of the second trimester?"

She paused a moment before a soft smile found her again. "That would be between the fourth and sixth months of a pregnancy."

"What a strange thing to ask." Shunsui started before a sudden idea seemed to strike him. "Is there any connections between that question and you?"

"Oh goodness, is it Matsumoto?" Unohana followed up.

"What? No, it's not-"

"You know, I saw her the other day and I couldn't even tell; she must be carrying it well." Shunsui continued. "It must be her height, you know they say the taller you are, the better you'll carry a child. I don't know what that means, but I'm assuming it goes along with her case. Did you call us together to tell us this good news? Should we start making plans for a shower or would it be too late at this point-"

"It's not Matsumoto! It's Hinamori."

There seemed to be a thick silence that followed afterwards- a silence that soon made him almost regret the sudden outburst.

"… Does Matsumoto know?"

"Just a minute, Shunsui…" Ukitake started. "Does that explain… why she's been so isolated recently?"

"To be honest, I don't know." Hitsugaya answered with a light sigh. "I just… Matsumoto told me about an hour ago about it- well, she let it slip. She caught herself but she seemed really distressed about it and left afterwards. I think… she's known this entire time."

"Well, that's to really no surprise." Shunsui shrugged. "They're usually conjoined at the hip."

"Yes and normally these kind of circumstances wouldn't make much of a deal but… I don't understand why she would hide it." Hitsugaya remarked.

"Maybe the stress of our current situation?" Komamura offered.

"I thought that too but… maybe she wouldn't want to make a big deal out of it but…"

"But she didn't tell you." Unohana finished; watching as the silver-haired Captain nodded. "Hmmm… well that does make for an interesting case and secret or not, she would've wanted to come in to Division Four and at least get it checked out; we do offer a prenatal care, even though it's not really in use a lot."

"You would think but… it doesn't seem to be working out that way…"

"We could always cut her open and-"

"Captain Mayuri. No."

A long, harsh sigh left the Second Division Captain as she crossed her arms and moved her dark eyes across the entire room. "Is everyone going to just keep acting oblivious or should I put this all into focus for you?"

"What do you mean?" Ukitake questioned.

"For the love of- she's obviously hiding something. And from what I've been listening to and hearing you guys go back and forth about, it's clearly not just the pregnancy she's hiding; it's the paternity too." Soifon answered; sharp enough to where it felt like her words could cut air. "I'm not going to bullshit around this, we all know who it is- don't act stupid about it."

Yet another stroke of silence.

"Do I have to spell it out for you?"

"No, Captain Soifon, that is quite alright. We… we get your point." Hitsugaya sighed; hearing the words that had already been rotating themselves in his head. "I had feared that same answer but… there's only one way to know for sure."

"Should we bring this matter to Captain Yamamoto's attention?" Ukitake questioned.

"It doesn't feel necessary but we should let him know about our suspicious." Hitsugaya nodded. "And we can pray that it's just an overreaction…"

"We'll make ourselves look like fools and laugh about it later." Shunsui added.

"And what do we do if it is true?" Komamura asked.

"I don't… I don't know."

* * *

"You did what?"

"It was an honest mistake, Nanao-"

"Hinamori, just… I got this."

She frowned slightly as she watched her two fellow Lieutenants seemingly argue and near scream at each other- not really caring much if anyone heard them. It was hard to imagine seeing Nanao so upset but… here it was; living proof of it now and she was here to witness it. She tried to calm the woman but it seemed like she was only here to attack Matsumoto- something she tried to stop as well.

Perhaps it would be just better to stay seated instead…

"What is with all this noise?" she looked up at the third voice and watched as Isane stepped inside now; her slightly wrinkled uniform said she had thrown it on in a hurry and didn't bother to fix it. "Don't you know what time it is?"

"Well if it's so late, why are you still up?" Matsumoto questioned.

"Because I've never been able to sleep and this is the most common hour for me to be awake." Isane answered. "Now it's your turn to answer that same question."

"Yeah, Matsumoto, why don't you answer that question." Nanao snapped.

"Nanao, for the love of- get the fuck off my back already!"

"Not until you give me a decent reason to!"

She only shook her head as she watched the silver-haired woman frown in confusion. "If you guys get any louder, you're going to attract everyone to come here and when they do, I'm going to burn down this entire Division House. Now, will you please calm down and lower your voices before I completely lose it."


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: It's like things changed overnight; I'm finally getting the feel of this story and working my way on through it. **

The night was completely wasted for sleep- not that she had planned on getting any before all this had happened; it would've been a nice thought though before it was quickly dashed away. Dawn was starting to discolor the sky outside and she was almost certain someone was going to be on her doorstep in a few hours. And she would have to deal with it alone.

As much as the others argued and protested, she couldn't allow for them to stay. When the meetings were over, their respective Captains were going to return and notice that they were gone- that alone was only going to make this worse. She already had Matsumoto in trouble, she couldn't risk getting anyone else in that kind of predicament; hell maybe she was lucky to know it was just Hitsugaya instead of someone else- she knew he wasn't going to do anything extensive. Well now, Captain Shunsui wouldn't do anything extreme; Captain Unohana… well the most would maybe be jail time; Captain Mayuri… she better just make sure she wasn't seen with Nemu anytime soon.

Oddly enough she felt calm about it.

Maybe it was from the lack of sleep or the rest of her paranoia finally giving away but she no longer felt as though she cared for the others' opinion; God most of her time had been spent worrying and nearly making herself sick over this event but… now that it was here, now she felt as though she had been overreacting. Maybe now she finally had the strength to stick up for herself.

Because now… now she wasn't fighting for just herself.

She had someone else to worry about.

"_Wow, you're actually starting to sound like a mother." _

Despite the severity of the situation, she found herself chuckling lightly at the words. "I know right? I guess it took long enough."

"_It's about time you finally found that inner strength."_

"Tell me about it." she replied as she stretched lightly but found herself too lazy to finish the motion.

"_Who knows, maybe you'll go into a motherly rage and set everyone on fire."_

"No Tobiume, that's just what you want to do."

"_And you say that like it's a bad thing."_

"Because it is a bad thing- in fact it's a very violent thing." she started; looking up at the sound of someone knocking on the door. Letting out a long sigh, she pushed herself out of her chair and started towards the door- not entirely sure of who would be on the other side but not really caring much for it anymore. She still hesitated slightly before she pulled the door open anyways.

Oh no.

"Good morning, Hinamori."

"Nemu, what are you doing here?" Momo questioned; almost panicking. Of course the one person she preferred not to be seen with her just had to show up. "Because if Isane sent you over here again-"

"I just came back from visiting Isane, she didn't tell me anything; this is the usual hour in which we converse with one another- she is always awake at this time. But I dropped by to see how you were doing as well… I see you are also awake at this moment. Did the baby keep you from sleeping?"

"Uh, yeah, something like that." she chuckled nervously. "I was actually going to see if I couldn't sneak in a few hours before the day officially begins but… that's probably not going to happen anyways."

"Well if you're going through any type of discomfort, I'm sure Isane might have something that could safely remedy that."

"I don't know, I get the feeling that the only cure of this will come to me in about four more months." she replied lightly. "I might get something for my headache though-"

"Lieutenant Kurotsuchi."

The voice sent a cold chill down her spine as she looked past the dark-haired woman and to the silver-haired Captain who made his slow way towards them. Well, looked like those few hours she had predicted for peace were cut short to… now. Shit, how was she supposed to explain why Nemu was here without giving her away?

"What are you doing here?"

It was like a tense, pulsing fear as she watched the other Lieutenant turn around to face the Captain; that ever stoic facial expression denied any chance to read what the woman was thinking.

"It appears as though Division Twelve has lost track of some of the reports that were called to be handed in today. I was put in charge to search for them and I was merely here to ask Lieutenant Hinamori if she might have gotten them by mistake during an exchange of files from before. However, it appears as though I was mistaken."

Did she… did she just lie to him?

"Yes well, I know those reports are important but I need to speak with Hinamori… alone for a moment. You can tell Captain Mayuri that I gave you reason to leave for now."

"Thank you, Captain Hitsugaya." Nemu replied before she turned back to her. "Goodbye Hinamori, I will… see you later, yes?"

She couldn't help but to smile lightly and nod. "Yeah, unless you're really busy then don't worry about it." she watched as the woman nodded back to her before she started down the stairs and headed back towards her own Division House; she waited till the woman had left her line of sight before she turned to the awaiting Captain. "You're up early."

"Yes I… I wanted to drop by and talk to you about something." he started. "Can we speak inside?"

No no no no nonononononononono.

"Sure thing, I can get some tea going if you want." she offered as she pushed the door open wider before she walked back into the building. She stilled slightly as she spotted Tobiume in the same spot she had been reclining in early and tried to usher a short motion for her to disappear; only to have the spirit shrug at her in response.

"No, that's alright, I wasn't planning on staying long." Hitsugaya answered as he stepped inside and slid the door closed behind him. He watched as she carefully placed herself in the single chair in the corner and stretched lightly. "Look, a lot of the Captains got together for a meeting last night…"

"Is that so? Is that what all that noise was? I swear, one thing woke me up last night and I could not convince myself to go back to sleep." Momo chuckled lightly. "Why was it so late? Is there something going on or was this just one of those emergency, insomnia kind of things? I mean, I remember you used to talk about having meetings at all hours of the day and you never really knew when another one would show up."

"That's normally true but I was the one who called it last night."

"Oh? Why is that?"

"Matsumoto and I were talking last night-"

"Was it about the same thing that she told me last night as well?" she interrupted; watching as the sudden drop of expression from his face told her all she needed to know. She knew what he was here for, she had been waiting for someone to show up- she wasn't the least bit surprised when he was the first one. A soft chuckle escaped her for some odd reason as she finally moved one hand to rest on her stomach. "You know, I was surprised that I had managed to make it this far without someone figuring it out. I mean, I'm sure someone out there was curious about my sudden absence from the outside life but… they probably just thought it was from the shame and the heartbreak; Kira and Hisagi went through that same stage, and maybe I was just elongating it because… I'm more emotionally prone to react like this. I bet if Matsumoto hadn't told you, I would've been able to keep this a secret up till when the baby was actually born. But… I'm glad that didn't happen; I'm glad she told you because I think it finally gave me the strength to stand up for myself. I was so afraid that someone was going to find out, it felt like it literally froze me to the core but now… I can't risk being so afraid."

He didn't want to speak- hell he didn't even know if he could after… after that. "Hinamori… I want to know one thing."

"You want to know the same thing that everyone wants to know; you want to know the one thing that is the only thing that I know for certain." she answered. "Captain… Aizen."

"Why do you still refer to him as-"

"Because that's who the father was; he was a Captain when I loved him…"

He drew in a slow breath and tried to hold onto it, but allowed it to quickly escape him. "I was afraid that was going to be the answer."

"If you had asked me earlier about it… I probably would've broke down crying and apologized for everything. But at this point, I can't regret what happened."

"I don't know if I can do anything to protect you-"

"I don't want you to protect me; I don't need it." she interrupted once more. "If the society has a problem with it… I can't help them, as far as I'm concerned they can deal with it… But if they want to see me about it, then so be it. Set up a date and time, and I'll be there."

He was at a loss of words now, she could see that. So maybe… maybe she came off too strong and hard-headed; ugh, she probably sounded ignorant and like… well like an absolute bitch. But she couldn't afford a moment of weakness right now; she was getting defensive because she knew… she knew the reactions were going to get worse. That's how things worked.

"I…"

"I'm sorry but if we're through here, I have a lot of work to do… I should probably try to see if I can't find those reports for Nemu." she started as she pushed herself from her chair. "Maybe if I have some free time I'll drop by Division Ten and visit for awhile."

"Who else knew?"

"I'm sorry Captain Hitsugaya but as temporary Captain of the Fifth Division… I'm going to have to ask you to please leave."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: I tried to make reactions seem reasonable and natural, which is why I'm a little late on updating. There was a lot more planned for this, but I had to cut out a majority of it because it was dramatic but really made no sense and was not a plausible reaction. I like to try and keep things realistic but you know, sometimes those lines have to be bent and blurred a bit for anything to be interesting. It feels like my hold on the different characterizations of each person is slipping a bit, so I'm going to try and reposition myself on this topic.**

She found a note on her door that night that told her to meet at the Tenth Division House in the morning. She wasn't surprised to find it but… she couldn't help but to admit that she was curious about it. From what she could tell, it wasn't Hitsugaya's handwriting and it wasn't Matsumoto's either… so it had to be from someone else… but who? Regardless, it was sealed with a Captain's mark, so there was very little chance that it was some kind of hoax- not to say that someone would even dare to pull something like that.

Either way, there was only one way for her to find out.

So by the time the sun had fully made itself visible in her window… she set out on her way.

It felt odd to actually be outside, although she had really only limited herself to the early mornings and late evenings when the number of people had drastically decreased, still though… she almost missed the soft breeze pushing through her brown locks; she, however, did not miss the increasing bitter cold in the wind now. Winter was just around the corner now… and as much as she had enjoyed the snow at one point, she wasn't entirely sure if she would be able to enjoy it as much this year. She tried not to deal with the slight regret in missing out on the annual snowball wars but, it was much safer if she didn't participate this time; next year however, she would make up for the lost time.

Stuffing her hands in her pockets, she pulled her light coat closer around her to shield herself from the cold and… well to slightly conceal the bump in her uniform. Well, she was almost there, so maybe now she could get some answers out of this.

"Momo."

She stopped in mid-step as someone behind her called out; she hadn't planned on running into someone else… Slowly, she turned herself around to face the Lieutenant- now temporary Captain- a few yards from her. "… Hisagi, what a pleasure to see you again. How have you been?"

That empty look on his face said he wasn't going to answer her questions.

"Let me ask, are you going to betray us too?"

She couldn't afford to look surprised that he knew- of course he was, he was technically a substitute Captain just the same as she was. "Hisagi, I know you're upset… but that's not a fair assessment. That doesn't even make sense." she retorted lightly; feeling just the smallest hint of discomfort around his presence now.

"How do we know he's not just coming back for you? How do we know this isn't some part of his grand master plan?"

She narrowed her eyes at his words and placed one foot behind her. "That's ridiculous. Look, I know a lot of us are still hurting over that- I know that you and Kira are, we all had to go through that personal betrayal… but that's just… I can't believe you would say that…"

"What else am I supposed to say? It seems like this whole thing… couldn't be just a coincidence."

He was serious about this.

"If you're going to talk like that then I'm going to have to ask you to move away from me; and stay away from me as well."

"What, so you think I'm a threat now?"

"It's very clear you're in distress about this, a lot of people are but I will not put myself in risk just because you want to take something out on me. If you think I planned this, then you're wrong."

"And how do we know that you didn't plan this?"

"Well I sure as hell would've planned it a lot better than this." she answered swiftly. She watched as he showed little reaction to her remark and only continued to stare at her like she was some kind of monster. She didn't know what his specific problem was but she didn't want to stay around and find out. There was a difference between being rationally upset and irrationally upset- and to be honest, she thought he was pushing in on the latter of the two. "If you'll excuse me, I have some other things to attend to for now; if you want to continue this discussion, then so be it- I'll see if I can find the time for it." she turned away and started back along her previous path but stopped the moment he flash-stepped in front of her.

"And how do we know that you're not just using this to put yourself into a position of weakness to trick everyone?" he continued.

"That is the most absurd thing I have ever heard. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other tasks to attend to; I will deal with you later." she repeated as she moved to go around him, only to have him block her path once more. "Are you just trying to provoke me? Because it's not going to work, now will you please leave me alone."

"Don't you think the city has gone through enough already? And now you want to add even more fuel to the fire."

"There's no helping you, is there?" she remarked as she moved to go around him once more. "I'm sorry you have to feel the way you do, but there are some things that are out of our control and unfortunately, we have to deal with the consequences; I thought you would be mature enough to know that."

"Perhaps so and perhaps not." he replied; his fingers catching hold of her arm as she attempted to go around.

"I'm going to give you a very short amount of time to let go of me."

"I just want to get one thing straight-"

A soft gasp left her in a hurry as she watched the Ninth Lieutenant seemingly disappear from in front of her; the heavy thud that followed seconds later lead her to turn and spot where his form was now flat to the ground- a few yards from where he had previously been.

"I apologize, Lieutenant Hisagi, but perhaps the one thing to get straight would be the cracked radius and ulna of your forearm; I would advise that you seek immediate medical attention for the break, we would not want the bones to heal improperly- it would require another breakage in order to set them correctly again."

Why did she not feel surprised to see the Twelfth Lieutenant walking past her now and towards the fallen man?

"Nemu, what are you doing here?"

"You gave Lieutenant Hisagi plenty of warnings to release you and he did not abide to either of the warnings; seeing how your current condition does not allow for you to confront combat, I decided it would be in my best interest to step in for you." She answered; pausing enough to put herself between the two. "You are not hurt, correct?"

"No, no it was just a simple argument, that's all." Momo defended. "Did you really break his arm?"

"Yes."

"Why do you sound so satisfied with that answer?"

"Hey, hey! What's going on over here?" she looked up at the sudden shouts but let out a sigh of relief as she spotted just Matsumoto running over to join the scene. "Hisagi, are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's just a broken arm… thanks to that artificial freak." he muttered in answer as he carefully pushed himself to his feet; he held his right arm against his chest as the clean break in the conjoining bones throbbed with heated pain.

"Nemu!"

"It was a necessary action."

"Violence is not a necessary action." Matsumoto sighed.

"I do not understand."

Sighing, she rubbed lightly at her temples as one confrontation seemed to lead into the next. "Look, let's just not get carried away with this okay? Nemu, you come with me; Matsumoto, can you take Hisagi to Division Four to get that break looked at? I have a lot I have to do right now so I will deal with all of this later."

"Hinamori!"

It felt like a rush of heat flooded her body as she turned back to see two more figures approaching the site; the last thing she wanted was even more company to join this little 'confrontation.' Maybe it was Tobiume making her appearance now but it felt like her entire body was being set aflame. "Kira, Renji, I'm afraid if you get anywhere closer to me, you'll end up like Hisagi over there- so please, whatever you wish to discuss, save it for later. Today is not the day to be speaking to me about this."

"What the hell is going on?" Matsumoto started as she looked around at the sudden collection of people around them now. She didn't know what the hell was going on when she walked over to see Hinamori, Nemu and Hisagi but now with Kira and Renji's sudden appearances… she just… something was going on. Hell, this was one of few times she had seen the girl outside- wait… wait, that was it. Did they really just show up to harass her about it? Well now, she was hoping there was another reason to it but, not a single one was coming to mind. "I would like some answers as to why the hell everyone decided to show up here and now at this given time; I know for a fact that half of you don't even typically gather around here at this time- there's no reason for you to. So someone here needs to shut up and start talking."

"And how do you know we didn't just come here to meet up with Hisagi?" Renji questioned.

"Maybe I would if I didn't think you were a load of shit."

"Look, I need to get out of here and if you guys want to stay and talk, then so be it." Hinamori sighed as she attempted to leave the bickering group behind her.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Decided it would be safer if I cut out a bunch of the 'confrontation' to prevent myself from slipping on the character's. There are a few more I'm not too sure about, so I just kind of ad-libbed through them and hoped for the best. It gets in and out of character here and there, I acknowledge that but at this point, I was willing to let some thing slide by while I try to build up certain aspects of the story- hopefully it worked. Also, just in case anyone was wondering about certain descriptions of a certain character, I'm going off the manga not the anime, so if that explains anything, there's your answer. Thanks for the reviews guys! **

"I can see why Captain Gin would want to leave a whining bitch like you!"

"Ha! You're the one whining Kira! You little piece of-"

How something like this managed to erupt in just a few seconds, she had no clue but she wanted it to stop. She just wanted everyone to stop fighting over this! It had been months now, why couldn't people let it go! If it wasn't for Nemu practically cemented to her side, she would've felt entirely vulnerable out here; she would've actually had been afraid of what might happen if Nemu didn't physically intimidate everyone who tried to get close to her. The Lieutenant wasn't the strongest, but the fact that she had a much higher pain tolerance than the others, that she could withstand fatal injuries or that she was surprisingly persistent when it came to defending someone seemed to tell people where to draw the line. She was glad she was around even though there was still a chance that Captain Mayuri would not appreciate the position she had put herself in.

"Does this have to turn into screaming match?" Renji questioned.

"Well seeing as you three aren't even listening to what I'm saying to you, yes it does." Matsumoto snapped; her fingertips dancing on the hilt of her sword. The situation was going from bad to worse and she could feel Haineko beginning to act up; the feline Zanpakutō was practically itching and scratching to get loose. "So I will say it again, even though you won't listen anyways, you need to stand down and back off because I get serious about this."

"Why are you defending her anyways?" Kira started. "It's not like-"

"Because out of all of this, it's the most reasonable thing to do." Matsumoto interrupted. "Do you really think interrogating her like this is even close to being rational? You're the ones acting out of line and if you so wish to push it, then I will greet you on the other side and force you back to where you came from."

"You're the one making this violent."

"Because if I don't now, you will later and there's no guarantee that I'll be there when it happens; Nemu might though, so you shouldn't just be watching your backs for me."

"Look, everyone knows and everyone wants some answers to this; that seems reasonable enough." Renji continued

"Pft, there's a time and place for it to be 'reasonable' and here and now is not within that boundary." She countered. "Now then, if you wish to turn this into something else, then so be it- I have plenty of time to take care of you."

"This is ridiculous, why is this even-" Momo started but stopped the moment she felt what seemed like a small raindrop land on her arm. Another followed it shortly and then another till a steady sheet of rain was coming down on top of them. That was impossible though… it was bright as day just a few minutes ago and it had been broadcasted to be sunning skies all week. So what was with the sudden rain? The sudden appearance of the weather change seemed to have a drastic affect over everyone though; their sudden confrontation melted down into looks and questions of confusion.

"Really? Rain? Great, this just makes everything better." Matsumoto muttered as she ruffled up her blonde locks; she had just showered that morning and now her cute, stylized locks were going to be for nothing.

"I am going to have to advise that everyone here calmly return to their Division House and stay there till further notice." The sudden addition of the voice caused for most of everyone to turn to try and locate it. She herself was just a bit taken off-guard when she spotted the First Lieutenant standing beside her.

"Lieutenant Chojiro?"

The white-eyed, pupil-less Lieutenant stood calmly beside her with one arm tucked into the white, handmade jacket he had thrown over his uniform. "I should correct myself, it is under Captain Yamamoto's order that everyone report back to their own Divisions."

"What's the purpose?" Matsumoto questioned.

"As of now, that is under strict confidential notice, but as soon as I am aware of what the purpose, I will relay those news to you." He started. "But please, I would hate to repeat myself in a matter such as this."

"But I'm supposed to be meeting with Captain Hitsugaya." Momo replied.

"Yes, I was told of such but as of now, any other meetings have been cancelled until further notice." He nodded. "I am also here to escort you back to your own Division."

She frowned slightly and moved to push aside a wet bang. "Why?"

"I'm not entirely sure but it may be to make sure you don't slip in this sudden rain." He remarked before he offered his arm to her. "Now then, if no one has any other questions or complaints, I bid you all a good day; Lieutenant Nemu, I will take her from here."

She watched as the woman slowly nodded and stepped back; well if Nemu deemed it safe… then she supposed there was nothing else for her to worry for. Not to mention, there was no talking her way out of it now so she felt like there was no other choice but to take his arm and follow him. She watched as the others didn't hesitate to follow the order- the fact that it was Captain Yamamoto's personal order was enough to cause the entire confrontation to dissolve like sugar in… well rain. If anything, she would have much rather stayed with Matsumoto and Nemu instead, but like she had thought before she didn't really seem to have much say in the matter. "So, was the rain all your idea or what?"

"Ah yes, well I thought today was a beautiful day for an early morning shower." Chojiro started. "Not to mention, no one likes to fight in the rain."

"I hate fighting in the rain as much as I hate walking in it."

"Impulsive decisions are good for the moment, but most of the time not in the long run."

She nodded with him, somehow feeling as though that statement meant more to her than it should have. Thankfully, she had never really gotten that far from her Division House, so the two of them didn't have to walk that much in the rain; still though, it was enough to get her jacket absolutely soaked and water still managed to get all the way down to her uniform. The first Lieutenant didn't seem to mind it as much, but then again he was the one who called forth the oncoming storm so he was more than likely accustomed to it; in fact, she got the feeling that he almost seemed to enjoy walking through the rain. She was sure some people would have thought of it as being romantic but she would much rather stay inside and stick close to a fire.

"_Ugh, wet, wet, wet."_

She chuckled lightly at her rather irritated and grouchy Zanpakutō. "Oh shut it Tobiume." she replied playfully as she pushed aside her Division house door and gladly took comfort in the warmth inside. "Well… uh, thanks for walking me home and uh, making sure I didn't slip in a puddle or anything."

The first Lieutenant stood in the open doorway for a moment and had a look as though he was trying to recall something in the far back of his memory. "I seem to have failed to inform you that I was also ordered to stay with you until told otherwise."

"Stay with me? As in… in here?" she questioned slowly.

"_Really? You have to ask something that stupid?"_

"Yes."

Why would Captain Yamamoto order something like that? It wasn't like she needed someone to look after her- no wait… yeah, she kind of did. After that little incident from before… she no longer felt comfortable being anywhere without Nemu or someone else with her to serve as some form of protection. It sounded weak to say but… she just never thought they would be that upset… that they would just come after her like that. She was just naïve with the whole thing; it felt like she was still stuck in that mindset that everyone was innocent when now, it felt like no one was. "Okay well… can I get you a towel or something?" she asked; lightly chuckling as she tried to regain some of her composure.

"No, it's quite alright." he replied. "I'm used to it by now."

"Alright well, I'll be back in a few- I have to change out of these before I freeze to death." she nodded before she quickly exited the room. Well… now what was she supposed to do? It had been ages since someone else- other than the girls- had even stepped inside of her Division House and stayed; sure people visited but he was ordered to stay until further notice and who knew when that was going to be. Sighing lightly, she escorted herself down the winding corridor till she was able to slide open the door to her room. Her soaked jacket was the first thing to be stripped off and thrown onto a coat hanger while her uniform top was the second to go. By habit, she reached for her slightly disheveled and bundled cream sweater that was tossed against one wall but stopped herself just as she had one arm inside. Did she really want to show off her stomach now? The sweater was a little tight-fitting and really didn't try to hide much… what was the point, everyone knew about it apparently so no sense in hiding. Plus, she was well within the confides of her own Division house and she highly doubted that Lieutenant Chojiro would make much of an objection about it.

Her Division; her rules.

Her uniform pants weren't too badly soaked for some odd reason, so she kept those on at least to partly represent her Division. Running one hand through her wet, messy locks, she tried to push them from her face as she prepared herself to go back out into the hallway; everything was going to be fine… she had to keep telling herself that.

"_Do you honestly believe that?"_

"Do I have another choice?" Momo questioned back; listening to the silence as the spirit failed to give a reasonable answer in time. "I didn't think so, besides… I think it's okay if we trust Lieutenant Chojiro on this one- he did get us out of that bind earlier."

"_I could've gotten you out of that bind if you had let me."_

"Yeah, sure." she remarked with a hint of sarcasm- which only seemed to irritate the spirit. Shaking her head, she tried to push the woman from her thoughts and entered the front room once more. "Sorry about the wait, can I make you tea or something?"

The fact that he lacked pupils in both his eyes made it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for her to figure out whether or not he was looking at her. There used to be age-old rumors that he was actually blind but those were left unmarked years ago; he himself never seemed to confirm or deny it. "No, that's quite alright, I can make some myself."

"Yes well… I've heard that you're quite a tea extremist but… it's usually courteous if the Division host offers it first." she started; finding herself chuckling almost nervously in answer.

"Nonsense." the first Lieutenant replied as he straightened out his uniform and started to walk past her. "After all, a woman in your condition shouldn't be on her feet for such a long time; I will make some tea, you should take a seat and rest."

She watched as he disappeared into the nearby kitchen door and found herself either confused by his remark or partly stunned. Just a few moments ago, it felt like she was being attacked because of her condition and now… now it felt like she was being treated as though the complete situation over this matter was no longer important. He was probably just taking pity on her though, although she rather appreciated the 'gentleman'- like composure of it.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Just barely made it in time for the update today. I had a lot of fun with the dialogue on this one and I'm pretty set on keeping Lieutenant Cho around for a bit longer...**

She found herself isolated in the front room while she listened to the sound of the kettle whistling in the kitchen. It felt odd to have someone else there and someone who rather insisted on doing something for her; at this point, she had tried to make herself a bit more independent but always had a weak point here or there. And now… it was this. One hand subconsciously rested on her stomach and she rubbed in a small circular motion to try and get the baby's attention; then again, at this time, the baby was more likely asleep and would rather ignore her for the next few hours.

"_I hate to say it but… it seems like you're the second most hated person throughout Soul Society." _she thought to herself as she unwillingly thought back to the sudden confrontation. The more she thought about it though, the more stressed out it made her and at this point, she did two things where she severely stressed herself out: it was either break down into a crying fit or throw up. And at this point, she was not a fan of either choices.

She glanced up at the sound of the kitchen door being pushed open and watched as the fellow Lieutenant stepped out with a tray in hand; somehow able to balance the entire thing on the tips of his fingers when it normally took her two hands to carry the whole thing.

"I forgot to mention but there's also some spare uniforms in the supply closet if you want to change out of those ones." she offered; carefully taking the warm teacup he handed to her. The warmth alone was enough to comfort her as she held it between her hands and just barely let it balance on her stomach. "I feel bad if I just let you walk around like that."

"Like I said before, it is nothing I'm not already used to." Chojiro reassured.

"Sometimes, when you say things like that, I worry."

A light chuckle left the rather stoic-looking man as he took a seat on the other side of the room, close to the front door. "It's common, sometimes, for Gonryōmaru to act up in extreme situations; he and I don't always see eye-to-eye on things so when things like this storm happen, it's hard to tell if it was intentional on my part or his."

"I can relate to the not seeing eye-to-eye thing." Momo remarked with a light grin. "Tobiume and I… are sometimes not on speaking terms with one another and sometimes… she insists on doing things without my consent. There are points where we absolutely hate each other and others where… I don't know what I would do without her."

He seemed to nod lightly to her response and sipped at the hot tea in hand. "I must ask because my curiosity blinds me but… how far along are you?"

It took quite a bit of self-restraint to keep herself from spitting out the tea she had already partly drank and even a bit longer to recompose herself afterwards. She didn't know why she didn't expect the sudden question, after all it was probably one she would soon be hearing the most; she guessed she had just hoped that he, of all people, wouldn't be asking it. "About five months… more accurately around twenty weeks or so."

"Ah yes, I only heard a few words here or there about it and I was just merely interested; I apologize if that caused any discomfort."

"No, it's quite alright, I mean I should get used to it, right?" she tried to humor. "I'm sure I'll be hearing more about it soon enough."

He nodded but only seemed to do so to make up for the lack of a proper response; thus remaining silent for a few moments still. "If it's any consolation, you do not look the part."

"It's quite alright, Lieutenant Chojiro, you don't have to flatter me to keep me in good spirits." Momo replied with another light chuckle. "I'm getting used to the hideous changes and the inability to see my feet anymore."

"Ah well then… at least you're able to take it lightly on yourself then."

"I had to learn to because if I didn't, I'm pretty sure I would've burnt this entire place to the ground by now." she remarked as she sipped once more at her tea before she slowly started to push herself from her chair. "To be honest, the early morning meeting I had been expecting interrupted my usual sleeping pattern and the storm outside is making me even more drowsy, so… I believe I might just retire to my bedroom for awhile and take a short nap."

"This might be a bit uncomfortable because I was strictly ordered to not allow you to leave my sight… however, I would feel ill-responsible if I didn't allow you get some much needed rest; and I would certainly not accompany to your living quarters either." he started as his colorless eyes narrowed in a mix of following his given order and following the more 'appropriate' choice. "It appears I am at a stalemate here."

"Don't worry, I'm sure Captain Yamamoto would understand if you preferred to stay out here and guard the door instead."

* * *

"_Stupid rain. Stupid storm. Stupid Gonry__ō__maru messing up everything. Why does he even need to be here?"_

A long groan ran from her lips as she tried to ease the pressure behind her temples with soft circular motions from her fingertips. The sound of the heavier downpour outside kept her awake but it was soothing and relaxing to listen to instead. "Tobiume, if you do not calm down and be quiet, I will walk back out there and force you to be even closer to Gonryōmaru. Why do you even hate him so much?"

A stiff snort left the spirit as she paced herself back and forth across the room; swinging her pink sash to irritate the bells on the end of it. _"It's not an overall 'dislike' for him, not that he even shows up that much and does anything aside from make it rain; it's just that… well I rarely get along with anyone and he is one of many that I do not like."_

"Well get used to him." Momo informed as she continued to rub at her temples; her chocolate eyes were knitted shut as she tried to keep herself from focusing on anything else but the rain outside to calm down her headache.

"_And what's that supposed to mean?"_

"It means that you should probably try to distill your 'anger' around him as long as Lieutenant Cho is around; from the sounds of it… it seems like he may be sticking around for a bit longer than imagined, which means I do not want you to make it uncomfortable for either him or Gonryōmaru."

"_And why must I listen to you again?"_ the spirit pressed; her nose wrinkled in an obvious sign of dislike for the entire situation.

"Because I'm the pregnant one and if you upset me, I will make sure there is hell to pay for it. That's why."

The spirit remained silent further still but the addition of her hands on her waist meant she wasn't willing to give up just yet; oh no, this fight was still far too early on to give up. However, the continuation of such battle would have to be set for another time- that was about as much as she was willing to give. _"So be it… for now though."_

"So be it, forever." Momo corrected. "Or, you know, until this baby decides to come out and then we have to start training on getting that Bankai together."

"_So you still remember that conversation then?"_

"You practically carved it into my memory and you reminded me of it every day."

"… _Well I see the efforts have paid off."_

She allowed for another sigh to leave her as she dropped her hands to cross over her stomach. "Why must you be so difficult at times, Tobiume?"

"_I wouldn't be powerful if I was easy, now would I?"_

"No but it'd be easier than arguing." Momo shrugged as she stifled a soft yawn now before she looked up as a soft knock came at her door. She doubted he would come in even if she gave him permission to; his rather 'gentleman' like demeanor wouldn't call for it. "Just a minute." she called in answer as she slowly shuffled herself off the bed and onto her feet; it took her a bit longer to force herself across the rather dark room and open the bedroom door. "Is there a problem?"

"Captain Yamamoto has just called for me to report back to the First Division House; my absence should only be for an hour or so but I trust that you'll be able to handle yourself without my assistance, yes?" the First Lieutenant spoke.

A small chuckle left her as she brushed aside a lock of messy ebony hair. "I've been able to handle myself fairly well up to this point- although some assistance was offered- I think I'll still be able to keep that up for just a bit longer now." she nodded. "Do you… have any idea on what Captain Yamamoto wants?"

"I'm afraid I don't." he answered with a shake of his head. "But, if there is any news in regards to you, I will report back as soon as I can. Now then, if you will excuse both Gonryōmaru and I…"

"_Oh yes please, do get out."_

She silently cursed the spirit and nodded once more. "Yes, well… thank you again; I'll try to have a hot cup of tea ready when you get back- whenever that may be."

"The gesture is welcoming." he chuckled lightly before he started to turn away. "I trust that Tobiume will stay with you then, to keep you safe."

"Well she'll do something like that." she muttered quietly as she watched for the Lieutenant to eventually disappear down the corridor. She shook her head softly and placed a hand on her stomach once more; feeling a soft kick come in response. "Looks like it's just me and you again."

"_Or you can just ignore me too, that's fine."_

* * *

It was taking every ounce of strength not to break down.

She slowly collected what pieces of strength she still had and pushed aside the thin door that served as the largest obstacle in her path right now.

"Captain Hitsugaya… we need to talk."


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: I'm currently on break from school right now, so I'm going to try and finish this story within this upcoming week. -Writer mode engaged- **

"I'm sorry Nanao, but the most we can do right now is sit aside and wait for Captain Yamamoto's decision. And once he has reached a decision, we can make plans and jump into action but until then... we must wait. That shouldn't be too difficult to do, right?"

She found it difficult just to look back into those deep eyes of his before she slowly moved back a step. "I should be the one who is sorry here. I... I can't sit back and wait like you. I won't. And if you have a problem or difficult accepting that then... I'm sorry Captain Shunsui, but you must make your own decision. I've already made mine."

Breaking the last, weak half of eye contact, she turned away from the Eighth Captain and made her way out of his slightly disarranged office. Something inside of her tugged and shredded apart her decision, but she couldn't turn back on it now.

* * *

Her lower lip pouted slightly as she felt the Ice Captain's energy surge up slightly before it slowly deteriorated back to normal levels. She knew he had been under a great amount of stress lately and that she was merely adding to the load but... damnit she needed an answer! She needed to know what his action was going to be on the matter. And to hell if she was going to sit around and wait for him!

"Captain Hitsugaya..."

"I know, Matsumoto but... it's too big of a risk at this point." he started; speaking the same words she had feared after repeating them over and over again in her head. "We can't just... jump into this blindly. As unfortunate as this case is... more than likely, we may be able to use it to our advantage-"

"You look me in the eye and tell me you did not just say those words." she cut off sharply; watching as those frozen eyes turned to look back to her. "You look at me and say those words were empty..."

"Do you think this is easy for me to say? She's my friend-"

"And she's mine too but I wouldn't dare to say that about her!" she shouted; the weak band that had been holding her emotions in had finally snapped clean. "You... you just said it was possible that you were going to use her to gain an advantage in this situation."

"I didn't mean-"

"No... yes you did because it's only reasonable for everyone to assume that. Everyone wants to find an easy way out and damnit, they got one. But do you think there's an easy way out for her? No. There isn't. No matter which way she turns, it's a losing situation." she spoke; struggling to put herself back under control. "I can't... I can't follow you."

"Matsumoto..."

"I hope one day you'll learn to forgive me for these actions."

She turned and made for a haste exit. Her entire body shook with anger as she stormed a path down the hallway; her chest felt tight with emotions but in the long run, she tried to convince herself it was worth it. Everything she was doing, the things she had already done… this was all worth it in the end.

* * *

"I know this is difficult but... you must see the position that this puts us all in."

Isane sighed and nodded lightly. "I understand Captain but... there must be something that can be done. Something we can do to protect her."

"As of now, we are putting ourselves in enough danger as it is." Unohana spoke.

"And she's at an even greater risk." Isane reminded; sighing as she watched the dark haired Captain shake her head.  
"I know how much it means to you to protect her but there is only so much you can do." she started. "We're lucky to have kept this news as isolated as it is without reaching the city but... I have my doubts that it will remain a secret for so much longer."

"It will if people would stop getting caught up on this stupid business." Isane remarked; silencing for a moment when she caught her Captain's eye. "I... she's my friend, Captain Unohana, and I would expect the same thing from her if I was in her kind of situation. I know it's difficult for everyone but right now... I'm not having as much trouble as she is, so I can spare my time. I don't... I don't think I can wait for one person to make a final judgment on this. She needs me and... she needs me now. I can't wait. I won't."

For the first time in her life, she didn't wait for her Captain to reply and instead turned to leave. Every bit of her ached with betrayal as she made her way out of the Division House and into the darkness. How could she just walk away like that? How could she pull that kind of stunt on Captain Unohana? She was fighting a war with herself on what she knew was right and what she thought was the right thing to do. It seemed so easily that those lines were blurred.

* * *

It felt like the hours were counting down from the time Lieutenant Cho left; leaving her once more to the silence of her Division House. Lying in her bed did nothing but make the silence all the more uncomfortable and forced her back out into the front room and back to her chair; it wasn't much but the small amount of comfort it brought her was enough. Her hand continued to monitor the small kicks the abused her from the inside; every now and again, she could feel one land to a nearby organ and felt that short shudder of pain radiate through her as she tried to tell the baby not to do it again for her health. It would seem to work for a few minutes and then just when she got comfortable once more, her kidney would be introduced to a soft kick and the process would start over again. It was almost humorous the more she thought about it but tried to stop herself as the faint sense of laughing only encouraged the baby even more to continue the actions.

Drawing in a long sigh, she released it slowly and made the short decision that perhaps she should try to, once more, go back to her bed; her body ached from the lack of sleep and she could feel a tingling sensation in her fingertips- that one could've been a result from the kidney shot from before though.

She stretched and made a move to push herself out of the chair, taking a few attempts before she caught her own weight and managed to pull herself to her feet. Another drawn-out, exhausted sigh left her after the attempts as she ruffled up her messy locks and started back to her bedroom. About the same time she started to move, she heard the front door practically fly open with an insanely loud crack; the doorframe shaking slightly from the force on the other side of the door.

Her heart jumped into her throat and she was almost certain the baby jumped into her lungs at the sudden action; every part of her seemed to kick into overdrive by the short, impulsive burst of adrenaline through her body. However, it seemed for nothing as she released a heavy sigh of relief when she noted the familiar presence.

"Oh thank Gods... Hinamori, I thought something happened." Matsumoto panted; looking physically exhausted as she leaned against the doorframe to catch her breath. Her uniform slightly damp from the ongoing storm outside.

"If you scare me like that again, I am going to be spending the rest of the night throwing up." Momo sighed as she drew in a few deep breaths to calm herself; one hand rubbed at her slightly sore stomach. Well at least the baby had stopped kicking her for now. "I just... ooh... you can't do that too me anymore. I think I felt the baby jump kick me in the lungs."

The blonde-haired woman let out a small, broken gasp before she quickly turned back outside to recompose herself. She chewed on her first knuckle for a moment to hold herself over before she looked back into the room; a long inhale was taken to collect herself once more. "I... I walked away tonight."

"Walked away from what?"

"I walked away from Hitsugaya. I told him... I told him I wasn't going to wait like that others and that if I had to fight for this... then I will." Matsumoto answered; feeling as though the words were forcing themselves from her tongue. Gods, it didn't even sound like her talking but it was… she just, for a moment, she couldn't even believe her own words.

"Wait for what?"

"...For someone, anyone, to make a decision on this; I don't care if Captain Yamamoto's making the final choice... I'll still be here for you."

She watched the blonde-haired woman strongly; waiting for any kind of notion to tell her that she was just kidding. Any kind of sign that would say it wasn't as bad as she had announced it to be. But none came and… the worst case scenario seemed to play out in her head. "No… no, Matsumoto, tell me you didn't do that." Momo started as she felt her chest tighten up a bit as a sinking sensation dropped into the pit of her stomach. "Tell me... tell me you're lying."

"What? Did you think I was going to stand aside and just let them take control over this whole thing?" Matsumoto questioned as she pushed herself out of the doorway and into the room. Her entire body felt like it ached with exhaustion from the heavy set of tight emotions that had buried themselves beneath her skin to harvest what was left of her energy. "Hinamori I... I don't think I know who anyone is anymore. These people... they're not the ones I used to know."

"It feels like everyone's changed. That as soon as one person shows weakness, everyone turns around and pounces."

She glanced past the blonde-haired, emotional wrecked Lieutenant and to the darker-haired one in the doorway now; fingers lightly adjusted her glasses as her free hand rested on the doorframe.

"It feels like we're attacking each other."

"Nanao... you wouldn't either..." Momo started; trying her best to disprove of their reasons. Gods, she had been acting so strong and yet, here she was, losing it all so easily and in mere seconds.

"I don't think he'll understand the full impact of my behavior tonight but... I believe it will leave a lingering impression that he will have to follow."

"You walked away too then?" Matsumoto asked as she looked back to the woman.

"I didn't even bother closing the door behind me." Nanao nodded.

"You...you have to stop this. I can't let you guys just... ruin your reputations because of me." Momo spoke; part of her trying to salvage what might've been left of her strength to dispel what they were telling her in some hopes that she could convince them to go back.

"We're doing this for you. Will you stop being so selfish about it?" Matsumoto replied; her eyes brimming slightly with tears that she attempted to brush away.

"I'm not being selfish! I just can't... I can't..." she struggled to form; finding herself losing the battle against her emotions already. Fuck her hormones for making her emotionally unbalanced against everything. It felt like she could barely get through a single day without bawling her eyes out.

"Look at what you did." Nanao scolded as she hurried past the blonde and over to the smaller woman's side.

"I just want you to know... that everything we've done here is purely voluntary. We're doing this because we want to. We want you to feel safe and be happy... damnit." Matsumoto sighed as she felt as though she was trying to rub the tears from her eyes before they even fell.

"What the hell is going on in here?" The trio turned at the question only to see Isane just as she welcomed herself in; the sight of the three in some sort of emotional distress was not something she wanted to see. "I... why is everyone crying?"

"I'm not crying. I just have something in my eye." Matsumoto denied.

"Nothing's wrong, we're just... we're taking this situation a little hard right now." Nanao answered as she held the smaller woman against her. "We all may or may not have made a mistake tonight but... I don't think we'll regret it."

Isane nodded and let out a quiet sigh as she ran a hand through her silver hair. "I didn't think I could ever do that but with the strength I had tonight... I don't know where it's going to take me."

"Don't tell me you did the same thing!"

"I did what I had to do. We all did." Nanao spoke. "No matter the consequences... I don't think anyone here is going to regret it."

"I don't." Matsumoto reassured as she knelt down beside them. "And I don't think I ever will."

"Same here." Isane agreed as she walked over to join the small group. "In fact... I think I almost rather enjoyed it because… I know I made the right decision."

Rubbing the back of her hand across her eyes, she tried to calm herself down a bit before she nodded. "You guys just... you just want to hold the baby."

"Well DUH." Matsumoto replied with a loud sigh. "Jeez, this whole thing would've been different had you had a puppy instead."

"Okay, let's all just get a hold on ourselves and make ourselves a bit more presentable and professional here." Nanao chuckled as everyone tried to wipe away tears on their uniform sleeves to some effect. "Here, I'll go get some tea brewing. You need to relax and calm down; someone in your condition shouldn't be crying."

"Well maybe if you three hadn't busted down my door." Momo replied with a light smile as she tried to stop the silver trail that had reddened her cheeks slightly.

"So, do you think Nemu's going to show up?" Isane questioned.

"Pft, knowing that girl, she's probably already dead." Matsumoto shrugged.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: I might be spamming inboxes soon enough, I apologize but as of now, this story is within my grasp of ending. It is much longer than I had anticipated but far more fun than I thought, so it all balances out. Thanks for the reviews guys. (Also, I've been having a lot of problems with my email lately and it's not recieving certain emails correctly, so I greatly apologize if you've tried to contact me in some way and I haven't responsed. I'm trying to get everything figured out and it's taking a long ass time.)**

"Do you think she'll even show up?"

"Do you think she's even alive?"

"That's not nice, guys." Nanao spoke with a shake of her head as she brought the new tray of tea into the room. "Now come on, let's not talk about this. Let's just try and salvage what we can of this day... before someone finds out that we snuck out of our Division houses to be here."

Momo sighed as she slumped down slightly in her chair; one hand rested on her round stomach for a moment before she shifted it over to the chair arm instead. "I still can't believe you did that."

"We're not talking about that either."

"Well hell, what are we supposed to talk about then?" Matsumoto chuckled as she leaned back on her arms and watched as Nanao set down a teacup in front of her.

"Something happy." Nanao suggested. "I don't know, I guess the weather was nice today."

"Hmm, I don't really recall what it was to be honest." Isane replied. "Was it cloudy today?"

"That might've just been you." Matsumoto commented. "Although this storm seemed to appear out of nowhere…"

Nanao nodded lightly as she finished passing out the teacups and took a seat for herself somewhere in their small circle. "True, it was kind of odd; one minute I'm trying to deliver something for Captain Shunsui and the next minute, he thinks we're having a wet t-shirt contest."

"Sounds like Captain Shunsui…"

She only managed a few sips of tea before she had to set it aside; the earlier amount she consumed was still circulating in her body and she was pretty sure too much of it was going to upset her. "Yeah uh, Lieutenant Chojiro said that might've been on his part."

"Well knowing Cho…" Isane started. "Sounds like something he would do."

"Yeah, he said something about how it would help dispel that argument from before-" Momo remarked as she smoothed out a few wrinkles in her sweater top.

"Wait, what argument?" Nanao questioned.

"Ah well, you see, there might've been this little 'confrontation' between Hinamori, Nemu and myself against Hisagi, Kira and Renji." Matsumoto answered as she twirled a piece of a blonde lock around her fingers. "I mean, it wasn't anything serious- I could've easily kicked some ass but you know, then Lieutenant Chojiro had to come in and stop us all before anything got good."

"… Is that why Hisagi came in earlier with a broken arm?" Isane asked.

"You're going to have to ask Nemu for that one, I had nothing to do with it."

"Is that why everyone was sent back to their Divisions?" Nanao continued.

"Well that part, I don't know." Matsumoto shrugged.

"… Now I don't know the whole story on this but… from what Lieutenant Chojiro told me, it was Captain Yamamoto who had issued the order and he was just there to carry it out." Momo explained. "He walked me back here and stayed with me for an hour or so to make sure everything had calmed down; he left a few hours ago to speak with Captain Yamamoto once more… technically you guys aren't supposed to be here without his supervision apparently."

"Pffft, what is he going to do? Bring the storm inside?" Matsumoto scoffed as she fiddled with the ceramic teacup in hand. "That reminds me, Isane you referred to him as just 'Cho'… why is that?"

The silver-haired woman frowned lightly at the question before she shook her head with a sigh. "We used to date, remember? You gave me hell for it when we broke up."

"Oh yeah… why did you guys break up anyways?"

"We are not having this discussion." Nanao interrupted.

"I, for one, would just like to know exactly what is happening here." Matsumoto started. "I mean… ugh, it just feels like we only know half the story and our Captains know the other half and someone else knows just a small piece that no one else knows. I get the feeling we're never going to know what the hell is going on."

"Ask Chojiro when he gets back." Momo offered. "He might know something."

"Please, he'll probably be like 'I cannot release that kind of information at this moment; it is under Captain Yamamoto's best wishes that you return to your Divisions and never be seen again.'" she scoffed.

"That sounds like something he'd say, with the exception of the 'never be seen again' part." Isane remarked. "But again, he is the First Lieutenant… he would know a lot more about this situation than anyone else with the exception of Captain Yamamoto. I don't think you'll be able to get anything out of him though, not until he gets the order and by then, all the Captains will already know… although I guess at this point most of the Captains are already aware of what's going on…"

She brushed a hand through her hair and watched as the three seemed just as equally exhausted as she felt. What time was it? Was it too early to go back to bed? "Not to sound selfish or anything but… I think out of everyone, I should at least be able to hear something from it."

"True." Nanao nodded. "But sometimes the system doesn't always work that way-"

A knock at the door interrupted the woman and brought the four of them to a slight stand-still; each of them looking less enthusiastic about the visitor. Sighing, she pushed herself to her feet and started towards the door. Most people probably would have knocked it down by now and she only knew two people who would have waited for the door to be answered so… that left her with either Lieutenant Cho or Nemu. Part of her was hoping it was just Nemu- just to make sure the woman was still alive.

"Ah, Lieutenant Hinamori, I apologize for my late absence; it appears our meeting lasted longer than originally planned." Chojiro started. "But, I thought you should know that-"

She barely had the door open before he started to speak but quickly noticed his sudden derail of thought; wishing that she could've followed his blind line of sight to see what would have caused a loss of words. Then she remembered the three other Vices behind her… who technically weren't supposed to be here. "Uh, let me explain..."

"Why is there a room full of people here and you're the first to answer the door?" he questioned.

"I uh… just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I can't open the door." she retorted.

"Yes but there are other people here with you and I would have expected them to… wait, why are they here?"

Way to go, Hinamori.

"Look Lieutenant Chojiro, we got worried and we didn't want her to be here by herself." Nanao explained; searching for a suitable excuse to give as an answer. "After a day like this… it just doesn't seem reasonable to leave her alone. And we did get a little curious about the whole 'lockdown' deal and thought that if we got together like this, we could figure it out."

"Yes, but everyone was asked to return to their Houses and remain there until another time was given; there should've been no worry for-"

"Oh please, look if we had the nerve to leave and come over here, that pretty much means that anyone else could've done the same thing; I can assure you that other Lieutenants are hold up together in one Division." Matsumoto remarked. "This isn't really a bad thing, I mean we could just be beating the crap out of each other."

He seemed to reconsider their answers before he slowly nodded. "Yes well then, rest assured, I'm here now so nothing out of the ordinary should happen or will be allowed to happen."

"Can we skip all of this talk? I just want to find out what happened or rather, what's going to happen." Hinamori interrupted.

"Ah yes, that's what I came to speak to you about… however, I was told to only speak with you Lieutenant Hinamori." Chojiro started.

"Ugh, way to be a pain in my-"

"Shut it, Matsumoto."

Shaking her head, she stepped out and pulled the door closed behind her. "Okay, well you have about four seconds before they all crowd the door to eavesdrop in on us."

"I spoke to Captain Yamamoto about this situation… he was very patient with it and it took a few hours of convincing but I managed to persuade him to seek other suggestions for this. The other Captains had… mixed feelings of this, but ultimately, he decided he would govern the final decision." he started. "He has noticed that this situation is delicate and could be mishandled, so he has put me in charge of your well-being."

She narrowed her eyes slightly at his words; taking a few extra moments to try and reconfigure what he was telling her. "Wait… so… you're going to be… like a bodyguard?"

"You could see it as that, yes; I am here to make sure situations like before never happen and I will be available to you at all hours when needed. Of course… I suppose I would have to momentarily violate your living area to do so…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… I don't think it would be a good idea for you to stay with me." Hinamori objected as she put her hands up as though they would help to slow down the situation.

Her words seemed to catch the First Lieutenant off-guard as he held a look as though she had sucker punched him in the gut. "I would hate to say that it may already be too late to object to this kind of plan but… I must ask your reasoning for such a reaction."

"I just… I don't know if it would work out… I mean, you would have to deal with me like this for a few more months. You'd have to deal with mood swings, constant complaining, my never-ending sense of insomnia, and the occasional, random phase of morning sickness that still hounds me." she listed; watching as the words seemed to do little to affect the Lieutenant. "I just don't think I could put you through that…"

"If he's dated Isane before, I don't think he'll mind all of those."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

A soft chuckle left the First Lieutenant as he seemed to find humor in either her response or from the muffled words on the other side of the thin door behind her. "I can understand that you would not appreciate my presence at first but… all I can ask is that you give me a chance. I'm only here to ensure your safety and if that is my order and new duty, then by all means I will abide to it until something destroys me."

She couldn't just… let him do all of this, but she couldn't let him let of his new proposal so easily. He had worked hard to persuade his own Captain to allow this… and he was only doing it for her best interest and well-being. The more she thought about it, the more she realized how selfish she came off sounding when she blew off his entire proposal earlier. It took a moment but her wall eventually cracked and she couldn't help but to smile softly at the much taller Lieutenant. "Okay. Give me a few minutes to prepare a room for you."

"That's quite alright, I can do it myself-"

"Lieutenant Chojiro, you are the guest in MY Division; as of now, I am the temporary, reigning Captain so I will do what I must to ensure that my guests are well fitted for." she interrupted; catching him off-guard once more.

He gave in to her response and nodded carefully. "I must ask of only one thing from you."

"Go on."

"Since we will both be in this kind of situation for awhile and you are opening your Division to my presence, I must ask if we could drop the formalities around one another." he started. "I assume in these passing months, we will be inadvertently learning more about one another than wanted. In such case… I believe it will be alright if you were to drop my title when addressing me; however, if you wish for me to refer to you as the same or… possibly even Captain now, I will have no complaints about it."

"No, that's quite alright… Chojiro." she slowly replied; already finding his name odd without it's previous title. "I will only ask the same from you."

"I don't believe that will be a problem, Hinamori."


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: One more chapter... and this story will be twice the length it originally was. So, crazily enough, I was at this new shop in the local mall where they were selling all sorts of anime/manga merchandise and I was having a fun enough time just looking through everything. They didn't have a lot of things from shows I actually recognized (or with people I actually liked) but it was still pretty entertaining. But there was this rack right by the front counter with all sorts of keychains and whatnot and I was entertaining myself by looking through them. And guess who found an Aizen and Momo keychain? Needless to say, in honor of this story, I bought it and it is now looking awesome on my keys. **

The passing months forced her to accept that someone else was always going to be around and sometimes asking her countless times a day the same question over and over again. She couldn't blame him though, in fact she kind of found it adorable at times at how he insisted on constantly being around her and making sure everything was still okay- just case something changed within those two minutes from the last time he asked. Then again, with every passing day, the time was running shorter and every morning felt like it was going to be the day. Sometimes, she wished it was just so the constant aches and pains would finally be over; sometimes she wished it wasn't… she was never entirely sure why though.

"Hinamori! Hinamori!"

She chuckled at the call of her name that rang from outside and pushed herself up from where she had been seated; walking her way towards the door, she pulled it open to reveal the white blanket of snow that had landed overnight. It was always a beautiful sight to behold and it reminded her that, despite the treachery and desperate situation the city had been put into these last couple of months- almost a year now- there was still a sense of peace that harbored here.

"It's almost deep enough for sledding!" Matsumoto called; pulling her from her slight daze. She tugged at the pink scarf tied around her neck and grinned as white snowflakes caught themselves in her thick locks. "We figured by midnight tonight, it'll be deep enough so we might sneak out to take advantage of it."

"I can imagine it now." Momo replied. "I'll find the three of you in the Fourth Division house getting bones reset back in place."

"Pft, we'll send Nemu down first to test for dangers… although she's invincible so it wouldn't really matter… change of plans, we'll send Nanao first."

"There's no way in a cold hell I'm going down that hill in the dark." Nanao replied as she shuffled her way through the snow. Her hands were buried deep into the pockets of her jacket as her scarf was pulled up to her nose.

"But if we wait till morning, the boys will already have gotten to it!"

"Deal with it!"

Shaking her head, she walked out onto the small porch outside of the door but made sure to stop at the snow-covered, wooden railing. "Maybe you should bring Isane with you, you know, for some on-site medical attention- just in case."

"Oh stop it, we'll be fine." Matsumoto assured with a wave of her hand. "When are you going to have that baby of yours anyways? You look like you're about to pop any minute now."

"Hey, I'm looking forward to it just as much as you are." Momo reminded. "Although I'll have to go through my list of people who want to hold the baby, go through my things and make sure I have everything packed, do whatever else is left."

"My name's at the top of that list, right?"

* * *

"It's taken awhile, but I think it's finally finished."

She glanced up at the remark and pulled herself away from the book she had been engulfed in for the past few hours; watching as he brushed a few wrinkles free but held up the full-length, sundress he had been working on for a few weeks now. She had been watching him toll away at cutting material and stitching it together, every now and then, he would unthread a part and redo it all over again. The final piece though was absolutely magnificent; far better than how he had critiqued himself on the handiwork.

It was a shoulder-less dress that had been measured to fit her shorter height perfectly; the white material was decorated with black flowers that twisted up one side and spread themselves across the bust of the dress.

"It's beautiful." Momo gushed as she got up to get a better look at it; watching as he much rather rush over to bring the dress to her instead. She touched at the almost silk-like material and ran it through her fingers carefully; taking in the loving way it seemed to flow from her touch. "I think out of everything you've made for me… this is going to be my favorite."

"I figured, once the child is born, you'll want to wear something other than sweaters and sweats." he humored lightly. "I believe it will fit you wonderfully."

"I'll have to lose a few more pounds after the baby before I can fit into anything again." she chuckled. "But, when I reach that point, I'll be sure to wear this first… I don't think I can thank you enough for everything you've done-"

"Nonsense, Hinamori, I am more than happy to help you in whatever way I can."

**X**

_It was just another lazy day as she found herself lounging about in the front room once more; the occasional sunlight that streamed in through the windows brought on this addicting sense of warmth that she enjoyed again and again. If she could've sat there for the rest of eternity, she felt as though she would be happy with just that._

"_I don't mean to sound intrusive…" she yawned at the words and glanced up to the Lieutenant who spoke them; watching as the white-haired man stepped in from the adjoining corridor. "But is it too cold in here? I just noticed that you've been wearing that sweater for awhile now."_

"_Oh, no it's perfectly fine in here." she assured. "I just like wearing this sweater, mostly for the fact that it's the only thing I have right now that will properly fit me. Nanao bought it for me a few years back but it was too big for me to wear so I just hung it in the back of my closet; of course now, I'm the one big enough to wear it."_

"_I'm sure there are some maternity stores downtown-"_

"_Yeah, I thought about going but I just really haven't found the time or energy to do so." she replied. _

_He nodded as though he agreed with her before another thought seemed to pass him. "I could… make you some shirts, uh blouses if you wish."_

"_No that's quite alright; I'm happy with my sweater." she started to object but stopped when he waved his hand at her. _

"_Nonsense. I can get a few blouses put together by the end of the week and you can see if you like them or not. If not, then I will go downtown to pick out a few from the shops." he offered. "Is that a deal?"_

_It was hard to bargain with him when he seemed so intent on making sure she was comfortable in any way possible; and she was curious as to how he would be able to pull if off. "It's a deal." _

* * *

Surprisingly enough, things got better.

She was getting visitors every day it seemed, with people either dropping in to check on her or dropping things off they had just 'happened' to see and thought she needed. There was a small collection of baby blankets and small quilts that were a mix of store-bought and handmade piled together in one corner; a basket-full of toys pushed into a small closet for safe-keeping; and lord knows how many other essentials she had to find places to store so the Division House didn't get too overly cluttered. The sudden jump in support caused her to be skeptical at first but the more people who stepped forward, the more she let her defense go. She wasn't really in a position to refuse help and… she kind of liked the extra company around from time to time.

"Hinamori, are you in?" a voice called from the front room.

She had been in the process of clearing up a few things from the kitchen when she heard the voice. "Give me just a minute or two!" she replied as she finished putting up her new teacup set and moved the kettle from the heat of the stovetop; brushing her hands off on her pant legs, she pushed aside the swinging door and stepped out into the front room. A soft smile carried on her lips as she identified the two Fourth Division members. "Hanataro, Yasochika, what are you two doing here again?"

"Ah well, Captain Unohana insisted that we bring these over for you." Hanataro started; carrying several more quilts in arms. "She says you can never have enough blankets."

She chuckled lightly as she walked over to take them from him. "Well now, Captain Unohana would know a thing or two about needed plenty of blankets. Are you sure you don't need them instead? I mean, I have plenty and I don't want your Division to go through it's resources."

"Nonsense, in fact, Yasochika and I went through inventory this morning and made sure that we had plenty extras to spare." Hanataro assured. "Besides, Captain Unohana said that you'll need them more seeing as you may be having some guests stay with you the first few weeks- and she insisted that they'll need blankets."

"I suppose I can't argue against her logic." Momo smiled. "Can you guys stay for tea? I already have a kettle ready on the stovetop."

"Well we are on break…" Hanataro started.

"I see no problem with it." Yasochika replied. "Tell me, is Lieutenant Chojiro around?"

"He went out for a moment but he'll be back in a few minutes." she answered as she started back into the kitchen. "Is he expecting you?"

"We just had plans for later tonight; it's poker night at Division Eleven."

"Ah."

Things were going to be okay.

* * *

"_Ew. Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew ,ew."_

"Tobiume, you are not helping!"

The sword spirit silenced for a moment but continued to hold an almost pained, dismayed look on her face as though she would much rather be somewhere else other than here. Hell, she would have preferred if the Zanpakutō was elsewhere, but right now, neither of them really had the power to send the other into another dimension- or even into another room.

"Alright, alright, we just need everyone to remain calm about this." Chojiro started as he seemingly cemented himself to her side now.

"I am perfectly calm right now." Momo replied. "Tobiume is the one with the problem."

A long sigh left the man alongside with a nod. "Gonryōmaru is none to please to be here either, so I suppose that's something they share in common."

"_Ugh, that's even worse."_

Shaking her head, she tried to pull away her focus from the spirit and concentrate it on something a bit more… important at the moment. For instance, the sharp ring of pain that would echo throughout her body every now and then; the fact that the child that had been inside of her for nine months seemed to decide that now was a good time to leave. Of course, from what she had read and from what Isane had told her, this was just the start so she could have upwards of a few hours before the actual labor started- which seemed like a good thing for now.

"Uh… is this the part where I offer my hand for you to hold?"

His odd, almost awkwardly felt question brought a light-hearted chuckle from her; his attempts to be supportive were made in uncomfortable efforts that only reflected how out of place he felt at the moment. "Not entirely but it's fine, I think I'll be able to get by without it."

"Well, if you choose to change your mind somewhere along the way… feel free."

She nodded the same and just lightly touched at her stomach; for the moment, everything was back to being fairly calm and collective once more, which gave her a few minutes to relax her stiff-feeling muscles. "I know I've said it before plenty of times, but… I'm just really glad you're here with me."

"I fought to be here because I knew you would need someone; I'm just pleased you allowed for me to stay here when you could've rejected my assistance at any time."

"I think we can both say at this point, that we're happy this is finally happening." she chuckled quietly. "Do you want to feel him kick one more time?"

**X**

"_Seriously Cho, you don't have to do everything for me; I'm still capable of doing a few things for myself." she called after him as she tried to keep up with his steps. "I think moving laundry from one room to the next is well within my boundaries."_

"_Nonsense Hinamori, besides this is a little task." he replied; carrying her small laundry basket in one arm. "You should be resting and keeping off your feet."_

_She snorted slightly at his remark but decided she could do little else to sway him. "Why do you insist on doing these things for me? It's bad enough I have to get you to help me put on my footwear in the morning, or get you to pick up the same pen I've dropped fifteen times over and over again." _

_He seemed to only shake his head at her as he stopped just in front of her bedroom door and turned back to her. "Because, as I have explained many times before, I am here to ensure that these next few months go over as smoothly as possible for you and if that includes putting on your shoes, picking up your pens and moving your laundry, then so be it. I was asked even by Captain Unohana to ensure that you avoided doing anything too strenuous and while these tasks may not seem like much, they could easily add up. Besides, it is well within a Gentleman's duty to care for the lady of the House."_

_A light shake of her head did little to deter him as she planted her hands on her hips and sighed. "Okay, fine, I guess I have to let you win this time."_

"_Excellent, now then, it's improper for a gentleman to open a lady's bedroom door, if you could do that small task-"_

"_I don't know, sounds strenuous." she interrupted; watching as he started to respond but stopped in doing so. Chuckling, she slid the door open and watched as he set the basket down in one corner. "All I ask is to at least be able to fold my own laundry."_

"_Of course."_

"_Well at least I get something out of it." she remarked before she felt that ever familiar abuse from the inside strike her. She brought one hand to the spot and felt a secondary kick follow afterwards. "Seems like someone's up from his nap."_

"_Kicking you again?"_

"_Like always." she chuckled. "You want to feel it?"_

_The offer seemed to catch the man off-guard and leave him at a loss for which option to choose. Shaking her head once again, she pulled his hand away from his side and placed it against the same spot her own had been at seconds before. There was a moment of hesitation, as though the child was able to tell it was a different presence and wasn't her this time. It took a bit longer before a softer placed kick followed- as though the child was just testing the waters now. "See?"_

"_And you have to deal with this on a constant basis?" he questioned._

"_Well during the nights, it's normally aimed more towards my spine and kidneys." she replied; watching as he almost seemed slightly amazed by the act. "Although, I guess if you look at it, I have to deal with this for a majority of the time, so there's really nothing more strenuous than this." _

* * *

There was no denying it.

The blue bundle in her arms that nestled perfectly against her chest... looked just like him. There was no denying the light brown strands that curled or just the soft, round structure of his face. He was going to look just like him. She was caught up on what to feel or even how to feel about it. How was she supposed to react to it? She had prepared herself and even told herself it was possible but now that it was there clearly in front of her... she had nothing.

Her tired fingers cleanly pulled up on the blanket and watched as the infant pressed his cheek against her chest; a soft yawn seem to move his lips before he fell back to sleep. This was it. The one moment she had been almost terrified of and yet... she felt calm. Not collective but calm.

"Kuro Ceri."

"_Son." "To Love."_

It was fitting. It had taken her a long time to pick it out and she had made sure to go over every small detail and option that was available but this… this was the perfect name for him.

Her chocolate eyes glanced up at the sound of voices in the corridor and listened as they grew closer and closer. She was almost certain that despite Captain Unohana's suggestion to let her have some time between just her and her son… the others were going to see if they could sneak their way in. She guess she couldn't blame them, she would do the same if it was with someone else. A soft chuckle left her as she could pick up on familiar voices and could already identify who was present without actually seeing them. As if the night couldn't get any more eventful.

"It's okay to come in." she called. "I know you can't curb your excitement anymore."

"I tried to get them to slow down." Nanao instantly defended as she pushed the door open. "They wouldn't listen though."

"Out of the way, Nanao, we're here to see the baby." Matsumoto spoke as she pushed her way into the room. "Awwwwww…."

She chuckled again at the same reaction that seemed to drift between every new person who walked in. "If everyone could pay attention to the baby, that'd be great because I look like shit right now."

"You just had a baby, we'll try not to judge." Matsumoto teased. "Can we take turns holding him now?"

Everything was better…


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: So the story is officially twice the length it was originally planned to be but you know what, it was completely worth it. It feels good to finally relieve myself from the temptations of my guilty pleasure couple... I just might have to plan something else for them in the near future because this story really made it for me. Anyways, I honestly had a fun time typing this and I'm glad that so many people seemed to enjoy it as well, I just want to thank everyone who took the time to read it- whether you liked it or not and if you want to say some final words for it, go for it, I'd love to hear them. Kind of bittersweet to end it but then again, I get that feeling with every story, I think it's because of all the work I put into it but who knows. All in all, I think I'll have to mark this story up as a success being my first real story with this couple and my carefully planned attempt at something more Shinigami-related.**

"_I'm sorry Nanao… it's not like I want to do this." Momo started as she kept one hand pressed tightly against the hilt of her sword. "But… they're calling for reinforcements and technically, serving as temporary Captain I have no choice but to answer the call; they need my assistance and while I don't know if I'll even be able to do anything… I have to try."_

_She could tell it was taking the girl every ounce of strength to speak right now; it was a difficult situation, and it seemed as though as soon as she got out of one, she was thrown into another. "When are they sending you out?"_

"_As soon as I can get ready."_

"_Which will be?"_

_She shook her head and looked over at the oak-carved crib to her right; it felt like her stomach was in her throat at the sight of the baby sleeping peacefully beneath the colorful layers of blankets. How could she? "Tonight."_

_Nanao slowly nodded and tried not to seem the least bit upset over the situation. Pushing up on her glasses, she drew in a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Well uh… you know what, Captain Shunsui made it a strict order that I not engage in the battle so… I'll look after him."_

"_You know I wouldn't ask it of you if I could fight this even more… but I can't; it sounds like they're desperate and… I can't just…"_

"_No, it's okay, I understand." she assured as she walked over to the same crib side. "Don't worry about us, I'll make sure nothing happens. You just do what you have to."_

"_Thank you." Momo whispered as she tried to clear her eyes with the back of her hand. "I never thought this day would actually come, you know? I guess I just tried to push everything to the far reaches in the back of my head so I wouldn't worry about it… and now that it's here, everything's becoming a reality. It's come down to where I have to fight for the two things I love most: my son and my Division."_

_And the third thing I used to love most… I have to fight against…_

"_Don't worry, they'll both be here when you get back." Nanao comforted. "And you will be coming back, because frankly to say, none of us are anywhere close to being capable enough to handle a baby."_

_She chuckled lightly at the words. "That was another fear of mine… him having to be raised by you guys."_

"_Well now… that is perfectly reasonable, I can't argue it." Nanao remarked with a light chuckle herself. "Whatever happens in that battle… just be careful, okay?"_

"_You know I will."_

**X**

She tried not to bother herself with the days that seemed to pass by; elongating the battle more and more with every passing hour till she was almost certain something had gone wrong at this point. No… no she couldn't allow for herself to think like that. All the Captains had been shipped out to the battling field, even Captain Unohana and Captain Yamamoto… although she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not; the more she thought, the more she felt herself panic just a little bit. But no, everything was going to be okay as long as she remained level-headed with this. The few people who remained in the city were at their wits end, so she had to make sure to keep herself from becoming one of them. She would not allow for herself to panic.

Her dark eyes looked back as she heard a soft coo leave the crib just a few feet behind her. A soft smile found her as she pushed herself from the window and over towards the carrier; looking down into the bright eyes that looked back to her. "Oh no, didn't I just put you down for a nap?" Nanao teased as she reached in and scooped the baby up in her arms; listening as he laughed back at her and attempted to pull for her glasses- a motion she pulled away from. "We're not going through this game again." she chuckled as she walked back over to where she had previously been standing. "Look, what do you say we get out later and play in the snow, huh? How does that sound?"

"That sounds awesome, because Kiyone here won't do anything like that with me."

Glancing over one shoulder at the voice, she watched as the two remaining members of Division Thirteen walked in; just a few others who had been left behind in this massive, all out war. The blonde-haired woman punched her partner in one arm with enough force that seemed to cause the man enough pain to pull away from her.

"Shut up Sentaro, I offered earlier but you were all like 'I'm too tired, my back hurts.'" Kiyone mocked.

"Well maybe if you hadn't been so crazy last night-"

"Can we not have this conversation going on right now?" Nanao interrupted; watching as the two broke apart. "There is a baby in the room."

"You're right Nanao, I should be more attentive when Sentaro is present." Kiyone remarked before she left her partner behind her and walked over to where the Eighth Lieutenant was standing by the window. "How's the little man been today?"

"He's had about three naps already but insists on waking himself up every time." Nanao answered; chuckling as she watched as the child seemed intently focused on the other woman for a moment. "But at least he sleeps through the night fairly well and hasn't woken me up yet."

Kiyone grinned as she listened to the child laugh once Sentaro had joined the three of them. "Look, someone else who agrees that you look funny."

"Nah, it's just the fact that I compliment your rather humorous looks as well."

Nanao shook her head as the two seemed dead-set on annoying one another for the continuation of the day. "So what brings you two over? Finally get bored of your own Division House?"

"Yeah, after awhile, cleaning and rearranging the furniture gets a bit tiring." Kiyone sighed. "And you know, the fact that Isane is out there doing who knows what or possibly fighting who knows who and I have no way of helping her if something happens. But I try not to think about those possibilities. I've been trying to convince myself that she's just on some long vacation and is enjoying herself somewhere warm and without bloody massacres."

"… Well good luck with that…"

"I'm still working on it."

This was the whole part about being level-headed that she tried to remind herself about; she didn't want to be that person who panicked at the slightest thought of what might be happening. Yeah, it was frightening not knowing a damn thing that was going on or the fact that the only way they would know is… well when they returned or if someone else did.

Just… she just needed to avoid thinking about those things and she would be fine.

"Well if you guys need a shoulder to cry on or anything-"

"Sentaro, shut up."

"I find that if I don't think about it, it gets better." Nanao humored lightly; feeling small fingertips finally manage to grab the frame of her glasses and attempt to tug them downward. "As long as we remain calm, we should-"

The sound of people shouting outside cut her off and had her staring back out the window for the answer. It was still for just a split second before rushes of people ran past the Division house; their mix of black uniforms and white stretchers was enough to identify them. Why did it appear as though the entire Fourth Division was outside- oh no.

She completely forgot about the other two and practically raced for the Division door; throwing it open the first chance she got till she stepped out- instantly remembering to retain her footing against the clean slate of fresh snow out on the porch. She watched as more and more Division members continued to race by; each of them had the same expression carved on their faces- despair, worry, frustration. They were dealing with the aftermath because no one here could do anything about the events beforehand. She found herself almost praying that things weren't as bad as everyone had been crying about.

And who of all people did she have to see first.

"Captain Shunsui…"

The usual happy-go-lucky Captain looked worn down and exhausted as he pushed his way through the sea of oncoming fourth Division members; he was injured… blood stained his black uniform like it was meant to be a symbol or medal to show off. His usual pink kimono, kasa-style hat and white Captain's uniform were all missing… for a moment, he looked just like any other Division member and less like that Captain he was supposed to be. And despite the shouting all around him, it still seemed like he managed to hear her voice.

The moment his eyes caught onto hers, that ever famous grin of his showed up. "Nanao, you know that motherly essence seems very natural for you."

Despite all the worry she had for him, all the denial that she had put herself through when she tried to convince herself that he would come out of this war perfectly fine- some things didn't change. "Not a chance, Captain Shunsui."

"It was worth a shot." he chuckled as one hand went to run over his loose, disheveled hair. "Now then, I will be back soon enough to catch up on missing time but Captain Unohana insists that I visit Division Four first… and she is in a far better physical condition than I am, so I will abide by her suggestion this time."

She wanted to stop him or at least follow him to Division Four but stopped herself at the last minute; he could handle himself… no matter how bad of a condition he was in physically. She felt herself subconsciously hold tighter to the child in arms as the Division four members came rushing back; their stretchers filled with people now. There were Lieutenants Hisagi, Iba and Kira; Division seats Ikkaku and Yumichika- Isane was not going to be happy about that one; even Captains Komamura, Soifon, Ukitake, Hitsugaya- oh Gods… how many more people were going to roll by?

She heard Kiyone and Sentaro run out and watched as they seemingly disappeared into the crowd- either to offer assistance or in panic at the sight of their downed Captain. Things had gone from melancholy to worse now as more and more people were getting carted by. Somehow though, in the midst of the action, she spotted yet another familiar face who was able to carry herself well.

"Nemu!"

It seemed to take the woman a moment before she recognized her voice but when she caught her eye… things felt a mix of worse and better. Pushing her way through the crowd, she watched as the Twelfth Lieutenant managed to separate herself from the mess of people around her and worked her way towards the Division House. She looked… different. It was hard to pinpoint what it was, but things didn't seem like they were the same and yet, she showed no physical damage with the except of a few minor scrapes and bruises.

"Nanao." the woman almost seemed to sigh before the Lieutenant pulled her into a light hug.

She didn't question the sudden break in character and only moved to hold her back. "What happened? Are you okay? Is it… is it over?"

"Yes… it's all over." Nemu nodded; pulling away as the child between them seemed to protest at the sudden lack of space around him. "We suffered heavy injuries… a few of our fighters have been severely maimed and handicapped during battle… some were knocked out from the start and have yet to regain consciousness… things aren't looking bright but it's not as bad as everyone speculated; there were no causalities."

A small sense of relief seemed to pass her at the somewhat cold words. "Where's Matsumoto? What about Hinamori? Where are they?"

"Matsumoto sustained heavy internal damage and will require heavy medical treatment to restore what's been lost; she had her right side ripped clean off early on in the battles."

"Oh Gods…"

"Hinamori was… she… she's being transported to Division Twelve instead."

Nanao narrowed her eyes slightly at the answer; trying to make sense of it. "Why… why Division Twelve?"

"She had a majority of her bones broken during combat and her internal organs are failing… some of them are beyond being repaired and will need to be replaced instead. Division Twelve is the only suitable house that will be able to keep her alive while these transplants take place- do not worry, we'll be able to save her."

The thought alone made her stomach churn slightly and pull the child closer to her. "I can't believe it…"

"Captain Mayuri has put Akon and myself in charge of the operation." Nemu started. "Please do not worry further."

"I'm trying not to but it's… it's difficult." Nanao whispered. "Where's Isane?"

"From what I gathered, she and Captain Unohana are already at the Division House preparing surgeries; I suspect we will not hear from her for several days as a majority of our members are in critical conditions." she continued. "But… how are you holding up? How has Kuro been?"

"Well, we've sure as hell have been doing better than you guys have." Nanao sighed; trying not to let herself snap under the sudden pressure that seemed to tighten throughout her body. "No, I'm fine, we're both fine… but you… you look different somehow…"

There seemed to be a change in the Lieutenant's eyes as though to agree to her statement. "I… do not feel well but I'm certain it will pass… if you'll excuse me, I must meet with Captain Mayuri before he gets angry."

These things were happening and for once, she felt defenseless… she couldn't change what happened.

"If you could say just one thing to him… what would it be?"

The months following the fall of the Winter War were spent in heavy recovery across all of Soul Society. People were healing, meetings were being rescheduled, things were getting revised and for once… it felt like everyone could breathe a sigh of relief. For once, things were going back to normal and everyone was happy once more.

It had taken Matsumoto time to get over Gin's death, it was a loss she took hard and personally- something she couldn't avoid grieving over. When he betrayed them, he was forced to be her enemy and yet… in his time of death, it felt like nothing had changed between them. There were unresolved emotions and feelings that were left to hang and dry with his death; questions with no answers as to why… why did this have to happen? She was still coping but she was getting stronger every day.

She didn't suffer alone; Hitsugaya stood with her every step of the way.

Isane had spent days healing and ended up having to be hospitalized herself for exhaustion; half of Division Four ended up in their own barracks as they dwindled on the last bit of energy they had. She recovered quickly though and was back to healing just days later. While it was a serious matter then, she found time to laugh at the outrageous work hours they put in and the small relief Captain Unohana gave them when she allowed members to take off a week or two for their own physical healing. Isane spent hers with a certain Division Eleven member who had gotten himself in some minor trouble when he punched Kira out cold the first chance he got; Yumichika still seemed proud of the action to this day.

Nanao held Division Eight stable while Captain Shunsui was knocked out of commission- ordered to take a month off for rest; an order Captain Unohana would not let him bypass. Still though, there was certainly a change in atmosphere when he came back from his month of rest; the war had changed little of his personality and soon enough Nanao was complaining of his constant motives against her. And yet, there was a small hint of playfulness when she talked about it… something that would need to be investigated further.

Division Twelve remained busy with their investigation of the Hueco Mundo dimension and their time with Nemu was little to none at some points. However, when the investigation teams switched out, she seemed to make it a point to drop by at least once a day to check in. Nanao had once complained that something seemed different with her, but that seemed to slowly pass away with time. It was more than likely just the stress of the wars and battles- although Renji refused to repeat what he had seen during one battle and instead insisted on keeping his distance from her. Whatever the case was, she was back to normal now and that was all that mattered.

She… she was getting better.

Things had been rough the first few months as the constant medical visits were only filled with pain as her newly transplanted organs seemed to fight against her every now and again. But, thankfully, things evened out and every issue was resolved. And of course, between her time of healing and appointments, she refused to let her son leave her arms. He had gotten bigger and every day he reminded her of how lucky she was to have returned alive. Every morning, he greeted her with a smile and those bright eyes of his told her that things were going to be okay. He was more talkative now, or at least he enjoyed making his own kind of noises and words and she just laughed along with him. This was their time of recovery and renewal… the road ahead of them was going to be difficult but she knew she had the strength to make it through.

As for Aizen… he wasn't killed and instead was just sentenced to some odd number of years in imprisonment. She wasn't entirely sure how she felt about it… knowing and feeling that somewhere down the road, he could break loose if he wanted to and this whole thing would repeat itself. It was easier if she didn't think on it but the thought struck her every now and then. How would he react… she never got the chance to tell him…

No. No… she never would. Given the chance to keep it a secret… she wouldn't tell him.

Or would she?

The cool morning breeze felt nice against her cheeks as they whipped up her dark bangs and fluttered them above her. Kuro laughed as the breeze pulled his tiny scarf up around his face; she laughed as she had to pull it back down and looked into the same eyes.

His eyes.

His father's eyes.

She looked back out into the early morning sky and took a deep breath of the fresh air; feeling the way it seemed to circulate throughout her body before it was slowly exhaled from her lips.

"I loved you more than you will ever know…"


End file.
